Regulated deficit irrigation in persimmon trees (Diospyros kaki) cv. ‘Rojo Brillante’

Evaluating the usefulness of continuous leaf turgor pressure measurements for the assessment of Persimmon tree water status

“…'Rojo Brillante' (Badal et al 2013). Water restrictions applied during spring or summer have been reported as effective strategies to decrease fruit drop and significantly increase water use efficiency in this crop (Buesa et al 2013). Nevertheless, fruit growth in this particular cv.…”

“…Nevertheless, fruit growth in this particular cv. ('Rojo Brillante') is highly sensitive to deficit irrigation and a proper management of the water stress reached by the trees is crucial to do not impair fruit size and reduce farm profitability (Buesa et al 2013). The use of the Yara ZIM-probes in orchards under deficit irrigation strategies could provide continuous information of plant water status for an adequate management of water stress.…”

“…The use of the Yara ZIM-probes in orchards under deficit irrigation strategies could provide continuous information of plant water status for an adequate management of water stress. Based on Buesa et al (2013), fruit drop could be reduced by maintaining trees within the state II of leaf turgor during either spring or summer for a couple of weeks and then leading them to state I by increasing water allocations. The unusual P p readings observed after clamping should not be a problem when using the probes in RDI orchards provided that these were installed in the trees with enough time to stabilize before the period of water restrictions, which in spring RDI strategies is recommended from late May to mid-July.…”

“…Studies performed in Valencia, Spain, with the cv. 'Rojo Brillante' showed that RDI strategies may lead growers to obtain water savings of 20 % without any reduction in yield, increasing then the water use efficiency (Buesa et al 2013). Results also showed that fruit weight reduction in RDI trees caused a decrease in the fruit commercial value, pointing out that further research would be needed to define a successful RDI strategy for this crop.…”

“…Stem water potential (Ψ stem ) associated with each of the leaf turgor states observed in control (L-WW) and non-irrigated (L-DS) trees. Water status for the average, maximum and minimum Ψ stem recorded within each state is also shownThe interpretation of the Ψ stem values in relation to the degree of water stress is derived from previous experiments carried out in order to determine Persimmon trees responses to different irrigation regimes(Badal et al 2010(Badal et al , 2013Buesa et al 2013) …”