‘Ga. 03-6-72’ (GoldingTM), a Scab Resistant Pecan Cultivar with Excellent Kernel Quality for the Southeastern U.S.

‘Ga. 03-6-72’ is a new pecan (Carya illinoinensis) cultivar released by the University of Georgia (UGA) College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences for use in commercial orchards in the southeastern United States. It produces large nuts (9.3 g) with consistently high kernel percentage (59.6%). Kernels shell easily into complete halves and have an attractive light golden color. Harvest occurs in early October in southern Georgia.  Yields of ‘Ga. 03-6-72’ have been strong and comparable to established commercial cultivars such as ‘Sumner’, ‘Huffman’, and ‘Tom’. The cultivar also shows good resistance to pecan scab (Venturia effusa), exhibiting minimal disease in orchards managed with moderate fungicide programs and only moderate disease levels in unsprayed plantings. ‘Ga. 03-6-72’ is recommended for commercial trial in the southeastern U.S. in orchards where fungicide applications are part of standard management.