ISHS Acta Horticulturae 451: VI International Symposium on Integrated Canopy, Rootstock, Environmental Physiology in Orchard Systems
DO HIGH DENSITY SYSTEMS REALLY PAY ? - EVALUATION OF HIGH DENSITY SYSTEMS FOR CLING PEACHES |
| Authors: | T.M. DeJong, W. Tsuji, J.F. Doyle, Y.L. Grossman |
| Keywords: | Prunus persica, pruning, yield efficiency, economics |
| Abstract:
An orchard of clingstone peaches (Prunus persica L. Batsch, cv Ross) was established at the Kearney Agricultural Center in Parlier, California, for evaluating the efficiency of three high density planting systems compared with the standard Open Vase system. The orchard contained four replicated plots of 0.8 ha each with each plot containing four different planting systems. Each planting system subplot was 0.2 ha. The four planting systems were: the "Cordon" system (2.4 × 4.0 m, with 4.8 m perpendicular drive rows at 24 m intervals, 919 trees/ha), the "KAC perpendicular V" system (2.0 × 5.5 m, 919 trees/ha), a "high density KAC-V" system (1.8 × 4.6 m, 1196 trees/ha) and the standard "Open Vase" system (6.1 × 5.5 m, 299 trees/ha). All system-specific costs and crop yields were recorded annually on each subplot for the first five years of the orchard. Cumulative yields were highest for the high density KAC-V system followed by KAC-V, Cordon and Open Vase. Cumulative costs were greatest for the high density V system followed by Cordon, KAC-V and Open Vase. The relative economic returns of the systems depended on the price received for the crops. With high crop prices, high density systems with high crop yields gave the best net returns but the relative advantages of high density systems decreased with low crop prices. This study indicates that the relative economic benefits of planting high density systems depends not only on crop yields and system establishment and maintenance costs, but also on the crop value. | |
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