ISHS Acta Horticulturae 591: III International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds
VIGOUR AND YIELD EVALUATION IN ALMOND TREES UNDER TWO PRUNING TREATMENTS |
| Authors: | J. Castro, P. Jiménez |
| Keywords: | Prunus dulcis, pruning, yield, kernel. |
| Abstract:
In an almond orchard planted in 1993 with fall budded trees, the effect of non-pruning treatment versus winter-pruned trees was evaluated between 1995 and 2000. Trees formed in a central axis were ‘Nonpareil’, ‘Carmel’ and ‘Padre’ cultivars grafted on ‘Nemaguard’ rootstocks. Size and vigour of the tree (through the annual measurements of its trunk diameter), annual, accumulated yield and productive efficiency (in relation to the area of the trunk section) were evaluated. Kernel production displayed a significant difference every year in favour of the non-pruned trees in the three cultivars. The exception was the year 1999, which was possibly attributed to the severe drought that affected the central zone of Chile the previous year. Accumulated productions, between 1996 and 2000, in average kernels per tree in the three non-pruned cultivars were higher than in the pruned trees. When appraising the accumulated (1996-2000) yield/hectare by US$3.50/kg, the non-pruned trees obtained an extra income higher than US$ 4000 in comparison to ‘Nonpareil’ and ‘Padre’ pruned trees and US$8.350 for the ‘Carmel’ cultivar. Average diameter was significant every year in the three cultivars. Nevertheless, when comparing the kernel yields, expressed in g/cm2 of trunk area, from the year 1997 significant dissimilarities in favour of the pruned trees were observed, which could be indicating the advantage of carrying out some pruning intervention. | |
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