Effects of post-harvest regulated deficit irrigation on carbohydrate and nitrogen partitioning, yield quality and vegetative growth of peach trees

Abstract

The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effects of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) applied in the post-harvest stage of peach\ud trees. The 3-year trial was carried out in Italy (N 4020¢, E 1648¢) on mature peach plants (cv ‘‘Springcrest’’) trained to transverse Y. From bud break to harvest, irrigation was carried out by applying 100% ETc, while from harvest to early autumn, plants were separated into three groups and subjected to different irrigation treatments (100, 57 and 34% ETc). The decrease in soil water content caused a reduction in the values of tissue water potential and gas exchange both in 57%\ud ETc and 34% ETc treatments. RDI determined the reduction in the growth of waterspouts and lateral shoots but did not influence the growth of fruiting shoots. During the trial, no significant reductions in crop yield and quality were observed in the 57% ETc treatment, whereas about 1,100, 1,800 and 2,500 m3 ha–1 of water were saved in the first, the second and the third year, respectively. In the second year of the trial, the use of RDI in the post-harvest stage determined\ud carbohydrate and nitrogen accumulation in roots, branches, shoots and floral buds. The results demonstrate that, under scarce water supply conditions, a clear benefit can be obtained through the use of RDI during the post-harvest stage. This confirms the possibility to reduce the irrigation water by applying RDI during phenological stages less sensitive to water deficit without negatively affecting peach growth and yield

Limitations to adopting regulated deficit irrigation in stone fruit orchards: a case study

“…For peach trees, Marsal et al (2004Marsal et al ( , 2005 reported that minimum values of around -1.5 MPa at the end of Stage II are associated with detrimental effects on fruit size at harvest. Similar results were presented by Dichio et al (2007) in peach and by Marsal et al (2009) in cherry. There are references in the literature pointing out that the threshold limits of SWP are variable between crops, crop development stages, soil characteristics and fruit loads.…”

“…On the other hand, the discharge differences between the two controlled apricot cropping areas were not effectively corrected. Dichio et al (2007) concluded that the success of an RDI strategy heavily relies on the adequate design and management of drip irrigation systems. Our results indicate that, despite the manager's efforts, more control (flow meters, pressure regulators) would be required at the irrigation network in order to effectively regulate deficit irrigation in the orchard.…”

“…Several authors have proposed different levels of deficit irrigation depending on soil characteristics and different periods of deficit depending on peach cycles (Goldhamer et al, 2002;Gelly et al, 2004;Dichio et al, 2007; for early, medium and late maturing peaches, respectively). Girona et al (2003) reported that water deficit during postharvest for peach orchards should be carefully managed to avoid reduction in bloom and fruit loads during the subsequent growing season.…”

Regulated deficit irrigation and tommy atkins mango orchard productivity under microsprinkling in brazilian semi arid

“…Other favorable results with this technique were obtained in studies developed by GIRONA et al (1993), in peach; by DOMINGO et al (1996), in real lemon; by DICHIO et al (2007) andLOPEZ et al (2008), in pear; by PEREZ-PEREZ et al (2009), in sweet orange;and GIJÓN et al (2009), in pistachios. Not as favorable result was found by GONZÁLEZ- ALTOZANO & CASTEL (2000) by applying the technique in tangerines, where a deficit of 50% of ETc, applied at the initial stage, achieved water savings of up to 23%, without negative effects on productivity and fruit quality, however, when the deficit lasted until the finals stages, besides the quality, the productivity fell about 22% for a water saving of up to 54%.…”

Effects of regulated deficit irrigation on physiology and fruit quality in apricot trees

“…The success of RDI strongly depends on the appropriate use of microirrigation techniques, which allows the control of soil water content (Dichio et al, 2007). RDI has been used successfully maintaining yield and fruit quality in many fruit species (Ebel et al, 1995;Girona et al, 2003;Buendía et al, 2008;López et al, 2008), nut species Goldhamer and Beede, 2004;Romero et al, 2004;Girona et al, 2005) citrus species (Sánchez-Blanco et al, 1989;Castel and Buj, 1990;Domingo et al, 1996;Castel, 1999, 2000;Goldhamer and Salinas, 2000), wine grapes (Bravdo and Naor, 1996;McCarthy et al, 2002) and olives (Moriana et al, 2003).…”