Quince 'CPP': new dwarf rootstock for pear trees on organic and high density planting

Abstract

ABSTRACT-In Brazil, pear production presents the same incipient situation over the last 15 years, due mostly to low production technology. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the development, growth and production of the pear tree cultivars Cascatense, Tenra and Hosui grafted on 'CPP' quince rootstock, using 'FT' pear as interstem. This trial was carried out in Guarapuava, State of Paraná, Southern region of Brazil, by five productive cycles. The pear trees were planted in September of 2004, spaced at 1.0 x 4.0 m (2,500 trees ha -1 ), trained to the modified central leader, on a Four-wire trellis, with drip irrigation and cultivated under organic production system. The following variables were evaluated: sprouting, anthesis, yield, fruit weight, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, pulp firmness, canopy area per plant and per hectare and trunk diameter. The pear tree cv. Tenra was outstanding most of the years for fruit yield, and, consequently, showed the highest accumulated yield over the period (51.6 t ha -1 ), followed by the cultivars Cascatense (39.7 t ha -1 ) and Hosui (18.7 t ha -1 ). All pear cultivars presented suitable physical-chemical characteristics for commercial purposes, with minimal average soluble solids content of 11% at harvest. The maximum canopy area per hectare was attained for cv. Cascatense (3063.2 m 2 ), that was considered insufficient for a high yield. These results suggest the needs for studies with higher density planting and other training systems, searching optimize canopy volume. One of the most limiting factors in the organic pear orchard was the incidence of pear dieback caused by Botriosphaeria dothidea, severe more often in pear trees cv. Hosui. Index terms: Pyrus spp., Cydonia oblonga, agroecology, phenology, deciduous fruits. MARMELEIRO 'CPP': NOVO PORTA-ENXERTO ANÃO PARA PEREIRAS EM PLANTIOS ORGÂNICOS E EM ALTA DENSIDADERESUMO -No Brasil, a produção de peras apresenta a mesma situação incipiente dos últimos 15 anos, devido principalmente à baixa tecnologia de produção. Neste contexto, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar o crescimento, o desenvolvimento e a produção das cultivares de pereira Cascatense, Tenra e Hosui enxertadas sobre o porta-enxerto marmeleiro 'CPP', utilizando como interenxerto a pereira 'FT'. O experimento foi conduzido em Guarapuava, Paraná, por cinco ciclos produtivos. As pereiras foram plantadas em setembro de 2004, espaçadas em 1,0 x 4,0 m (2.500 plantas ha -1 ), conduzidas em sistema de líder central modificado, em espaldeira com quatro fios, irrigação por gotejamento e sistema de produção orgânica. As seguintes variáveis foram avaliadas: brotação, florescimento, produtividade, massa dos frutos, teor de sólidos solúveis, acidez titulável, firmeza da polpa, área da copa por planta e por hectare, e diâmetro do tronco. A pereira cv. Tenra foi superior na maioria dos anos para a produção de frutos e, consequentemente, apresentou a maior produtividade acumulada no período (51,6 t ha -1 ), seguida pelas cultivares Cascatense (39,7...

Do the Rootstocks Determine Tree Growth, Productivity and Fruit Quality of Pears, which Grow on Typical Heavy and Acidic Soil?

“…'Abbé Fetel' and 'Conference' to be shown as cultivars with higher and similar acidity content as compared with 'Starking Delicious'. Great variations among cultivars for SSC and TA are previously reported (Botelho et al, 2012). Kiprijanovski and Ristevski (2009) noted that 'Conference' on quince BA.29 also contained higher level of soluble solids than 'Abbé Fetel' and 'Starking Delicious', whereas 'Starking Delicious' and 'Conference' had higher TA than 'Abbé Fetel', which confirmed our results, however, values for both SSC and TA in their study were much lower than our data.…”

“…It seems that early and high productivity of pear trees first of all depends on cultivar, rootstock and maiden tree quality (Sosna and Szewczuk 2006;Milošević and Milošević 2011), and also on environment (Sosna and Kortylewska 2012;Lepsis et al 2013), cultural practices, such as training and pruning system (Elkins and De Jong 2002;Vercammen 2002;Dierend and Bier-Kamotzke 2014) or fertilization and irrigation (Salem et al 2010;Dar et al 2012). Impact of planting distance on the cumulative yield was also previously obtained by Robinson (2011), being higher under higher density with group of quince rootstocks as compared to others (Iglesias et al 2004;Botelho et al 2012).…”

“…Pear (Pyrus communis L.) is the most important fruit crop grown worldwide, but at lower areas than apple due to its higher requirements for good environment (Sosna and Kortylewska 2012), although has wide adaptability to different agro-climatic conditions (Botelho et al 2012). Fruits are used as fresh and processed, also dried, because are rich source in nutritive substances, such as sugars, organic acids, and different primary and secondary metabolites with high nutritive and health values, especially vitamin C (Hudina and Štampar 2005).…”

“…Generally, rootstocks play an important role for pear production because influenced tree vigor, precocity, yield components (Pitera and Odziemkowski 2004;Sosna and Szewczuk 2006;Sosna and Kortylewska 2012), fruit quality attributes Štampar 2002, 2005;Marini 2009;Predieri and Gatti 2009;Botelho et al 2012), resistance to unfavorable biotic and environmental factors (Browning and Miller 1992;Lepsis et al 2013), nutrient uptake and leaf nutrient composition (Stassen and North 2005), leaf dimensions and its size (Salem et al 2010), etc.…”

Physiological, biochemical, and molecular aspects of grafting in fruit trees

“…monstrosa) is a strong dwarfing rootstock [ 84 ]. Quince rootstocks can induce dwarfism in pear trees, and quince ‘CPP’ was introduced as a new dwarf rootstock for pear cultivars [ 85 ]. Phenotyping vigour control in peach rootstock selections showed that xylem characteristics are associated with tree stature [ 86 ].…”