ISHS Acta Horticulturae 199: II International Workshop on Temperate Zone Fruits in the Tropics and Subtropics
APTITUDE OF MILD WINTER AREAS FOR GROWING PEACHES WITH LOW CHILLING REQUIREMENTS IN REUNION ISLAND* |
| Authors: | B. Aubert, Y. Bertin |
| Abstract:
An agrometeorological approach is described for evaluating mild winter areas as sites for producing low chilling peaches. Since the summation of chilling hours below 7.2°C (45°F) is not always appropriate for a given climate, we have evaluated the chilling requirements of several cultivars at 4 different altitudes (820, 1050, 1250 and 1530 m) in the Island of Reunion, 21° latitude South. The sixteen cultivars included very low chilling selections ('Flordared', 'Flordabelle', 'Flordaprince'), low chilling ('Earlybelle', 'Sunred', 'Flordasun'), middle chilling ('Sunray', 'Ingwe', 'Albatros') and higher chilling selections ('Springcrest', 'Rhodes', 'Culemborg', 'Armking'). These cultivars were tested at the four elevations for a period of 3 to 5 years, and data on flowering, growth and harvest dates were recorded. Marketable yield was highly dependent on chilling. Mean temperature varies linearly with altitude. The latter was correlated exponentially with the chilling requirement as measured by the Florida standards, so that new selections can now be established at appropriate altitudes. The application of this technique to other countries is discussed, as well as the problem of "corrected altitudes" for special microclimates. | |
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