ISHS Acta Horticulturae 449: II International Symposium on Irrigation of Horticultural Crops
EFFECTS OF IRRIGATION AND FERTIGATION ON THE YIELDS AND MARKET QUALITY OF NECTARINES |
| Author: | A. Battilani |
| Keywords: | Nectarines, irrigation, fertigation, fruit quality |
| Abstract:
The experiment was conducted between 1989 and 1993 in the Po valley near Ravenna in an orchard of the nectarine cv. Caldesi 2000 grafted on GF-677. The tests under comparison were: T = Control - Traditional fertilization; NF = 100 % ETe - Traditional fertilization; FC = 100 % ETe - Ferti-irrigation concentrated in just one spring operation; FD= 100 % ETe - Ferti-irrigation broken down into twelve operations. Fertilization involves an annual supply of 35 kg ha-1 of N and 50 kg ha-1 of K for each test. The increase in yield (+4.7 %) obtained through irrigation did not appear to be statistically significant in any of the years. The breakdown of production into product classes showed that without irrigation the sum of waste, C and B classes (low quality) is about 60 %, whereas with irrigation this value falls to 50 %. The FC, FD and NF tests showed no differences in terms of any of the productive, qualitative or biometric characteristics, the T test was always significantly different from the others due solely to the absence of irrigation. The small increase in yields combined with the higher percentage of fruit present in the higher classes produce increases in gross margin of about 15 %. | |
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