ISHS Acta Horticulturae 367: VI International Symposium on Pear Growing
EFFECTS OF UNPRUNING ON FRUIT PRODUCTIVITY AND SHOOT GROWTH IN JAPANESE PEARS |
| Authors: | O. Kishimoto, A. Tomomatsu, H. Fukamachi |
| Abstract:
The present study was carried out to examine the effects of unpruning for one year on fruit yield and wood formation in 'Shinsui' and 'Kosui' trees. In seedlings without pruning there were observed positive correlations between the branches of one year difference in age. The production structure of a 'Shinsui' tree was not changed by unpruning for one year comparing with a pruned tree. A fruit load ratio, the number of fruits harvested per leaf area, had a positive correlation to fruit production per leaf area with both cultivars, and had a negative correlation to mean fruit weight with 'Kosui' cultivar. Pruning increased mean and cumulative shoot length in both cultivar trees in the following year of pruning, compared with unpruned ones. Fruit yield, mean fruit weight and the number of shoot per branch were not changed by unpruning for one year. Unpruning for one year enhanced the partitioning of dry matter to wood, but reduced it to fruits in both cultivar trees. The share of shoots and leaves seemed to unchange by unpruning. Based on these results we propose a hypothesis that pruning enhances fruit productivity by the depression of wood formation, which is induced by the removal of the 2-year-old branches. | |
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