ISHS Acta Horticulturae 732: VIII International Symposium on Canopy, Rootstocks and Environmental Physiology in Orchard Systems
EFFECTS OF CROP LOAD AND ROOTSTOCK ON FRUIT QUALITY IN 'SUNCREST' PEACH CULTIVAR |
| Authors: | F.R. De Salvador, D. Giovannini, A. Liverani |
| Keywords: | P. persica, thinning, graft-combination, fruit weight, soluble solids |
| Abstract:
The project was set up in 2003 to investigate the effects of crop load and rootstock on fruit quality and tree yield in peach. The study was carried out in two areas of Italy (southeast Po valley, lat. 44.3°N – 12.07°E, 34 m a.s.l; Rome, 41.6°N - 12.4°E, 20 m a.s.l), on mature ‘Suncrest’ trees grafted onto rootstocks of different vigour: GF677 (P. persica × P.amygdalus), Barrier1 (P. persica × P. davidiana), PSA5 (P. persica), Ishtarà ((P. cerasifera × P. salicina) × (P. persica × P. cerasifera)). Three different crop loads (CL), i.e., number of fruits/trunk cross-section area (TCSA), were applied to each graft-combination: a standard crop load (SCL=1.5 fruit/cm2 of TCSA); a light crop load (LCL=1.0 fruit/cm2 of TCSA) and a heavy crop load (HCL=2.0 fruit/cm2 of TCSA). For all graft combinations, higher CL caused significant yield/tree increases and fruit-weight reductions. However, Barrier1 and GF677 were more sensitive than Ishtarà and PSA5 to fruit load and, for the same CL, produced smaller fruits. GF677 and Barrier1 significantly delayed harvest date, while Ishtarà advanced it. Increasing CL from 1.0 to 2.0 negatively affected fruit soluble sugars and titratable acidity on trees grafted onto Barrier1 and PSA5. | |
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