Artificial spur extinction to regulate crop load and fruit quality of ‘Kalei’ apple

Tabing, O; Parkes, Heidi A.; Middleton, S. G.; Tustin, D.S.; Breen, K.C.; Hooijdonk, B.M. van

doi:10.17660/actahortic.2016.1130.40

Cited by 6 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…In ABE-managed trees the number of floral buds (clusters) is reduced prior to bud burst, resulting in fewer buds than in conventionally-managed trees. However, the proportion of flower clusters setting fruit is higher than in conventional management, with a greater number of multiple fruit per cluster, consistent with the findings of Tustin et al [11], Breen et al [13,17] and Tabing et al [18]. Under conventional tree management it is not uncommon to see 30-50% of spur and terminal buds failing to set fruit [13], while under ABE management the number of buds failing to set is often reduced to less than 5%.…”

Section: Flowering and Fruit Setsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…The lack of difference in total yield observed between the ABE and conventional management regimes on the three Gala strains examined is similar to the findings of van Hooijdonk et al [12] with 'Scilate', Breen et al [16] with 'Royal Gala' and Tabing et al [18] with 'Kalei'. Tustin et al [21] reported a reduction in yield of 'Scifresh' in the first year of ABE management.…”

Section: Yield and Fruit Qualitysupporting

confidence: 84%

“…In all four trials reported in this study, fruit weight was increased by 5-38% in all ABE-managed trees. The impact of ABE on fruit weight appears to be consistent across studies, with van Hooijdonk et al [12], Breen et al [12] and Tabing et al [18] all reporting increased fruit weight under ABE management. This beneficial effect can be explained by a combination of increased carbohydrate production, as all buds are in a good light environment, and reduced wastage of resources, with carbohydrate partitioning to fruit that will remain on the tree rather than into non-setting flowers and/or fruit that is later removed.…”

Section: Yield and Fruit Qualitymentioning

confidence: 63%

“…While the impact of ABE on fruit weight was consistent, reports on the impact of ABE on other fruit quality parameters are variable. In a two-year study, Tabing et al [18] found no effects on firmness, soluble solids, dry matter content, blush intensity, background colour or starch pattern index on 'Kalei'. Breen et al [16] found no difference in starch pattern index or dry matter content of 'Royal Gala' in another two-year study.…”

Section: Yield and Fruit Qualitymentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Several studies examining ABE have postulated that crop load management through ABE was preferable to conventional thinning programs [13,[16][17][18], but these studies have used hand-thinning rather than CT for their conventional management practice, and do not provide evidence that ABE can outperform CT. As well as a lack of comparison of ABE with best practice CT programs, there is no information about the economics of ABE management. As growers are relatively comfortable with the use of CT as a crop load management tool, and ABE is a new tool requiring a paradigm shift, a comparison with CT is required.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Precision Crop Load Management of Apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.) without Chemicals

Bound

2018

Horticulturae

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Fruit thinning is an important management practice in commercial apple production. The standard industry practice for crop load management in many countries is based on bloom and/or post-bloom chemical thinning (CT) followed up with hand thinning. However, the response to CT is unpredictable and there is an increasing awareness of the environmental impact of many chemicals. Hence there is a need to find alternate environmentally acceptable methods for managing crop load. Artificial bud extinction (ABE), a thinning method that imitates natural bud extinction by manually removing buds before bud break, has been suggested as a potential tool to replace chemical thinning, but there have been no studies comparing ABE and chemical thinning. Trials were established in Tasmania, Australia to determine how ABE technology compares with best practice CT programs in terms of yield, fruit quality, and cost of implementation. Results from these trials demonstrated consistent fruit set of both Gala and Fuji apple under ABE management compared with conventional management. Fruit weight was increased in all ABE treatments from 5% up to 38%. The four studies presented here have demonstrated that ABE is a feasible alternative to chemical thinning, improving reliability of crop load management with increased predictability of fruit size and yield. Trees are significantly thinned before flowering, controlling biennial bearing. In addition, bud position is optimised, fruit is well spaced and light distribution into the canopy is enhanced. In terms of costs, implementation of ABE is comparable to managing crop load with CT programs but has the advantage that crop load management costs reduce in subsequent years after the initial tree set-up. ABE is also suitable for use in organic apple orchards.

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