Abstract:
At the time of the last symposium of the Orchard and Plantation Systems working group in 1988 the following themes were dominant:-
- The value of intensive, high-density orchards which achieve rapid effective ground cover (light interception) as a result of the density of planting but nevertheless continue to produce good quality fruits in later years because of the use of dwarfing rootstocks, special pruning systems and, in some cases, chemical control of tree vigour.
Such high-density systems were much better developed for apple than for other crops: single row systems on dwarfing rootstocks, especially M9 apple rootstock, predominated but multi-row and full-field systems were becoming quite important.
- The productivity of trellised systems, especially those giving a V-shaped canopy and high light interception.
- The use of fertigation, i.e. the supply of fertilizers in the irrigation water, as a technology well-adapted to high-density planting systems.
Since then there have been some changes in what can be best regarded as system components and also changes or development of some of the targets for research on orchard systems.
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