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Effect of pre-harvest spray of calcium nitrate, boric acid and zinc sulphate on yield and quality of Nagpur mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco)
23-28.Views:513An investigation was conducted on uniform, healthy, eight year old trees of Nagpur mandarin (citrus reticulata Blanco) at Fruit Research Farm, Department of Fruit Science at College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalawar during 16 September, 2014 to 1 March, 2015. Various doses of calcium nitrate (1.0%, 2.0% and 3.0 %), boric acid (0.2 %, 0.4 % and 0.6 %) and zinc sulphate (0.2 %, 0.4 % and 0.6 %) were sprayed before harvesting and compared with untreated ones. The results obtained indicated that the trees sprayed with T27 i.e. (calcium nitrate 3.0 % + boric acid 0.6 % + zinc sulphate 0.6 %) showed maximum increase diameter of fruit, fruit weight, fruit volume, number of fruits per plant, fruit yield per plant, estimated yield per hectare, reducing sugar, non reducing sugar, total sugar, juice per cent, sensory score and reduced peel thickness over control. Further, T24 treatment combination (calcium nitrate 3.0 % + boric acid 0.4 % + zinc sulphate 0.6 %) has also significantly increased number of segments per fruit, TSS, TSS: Acid ratio, ascorbic acid content, and reduced number of seeds per fruit and acidity percent of fruits.
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Specialities of the vegetation start and level of primary fruit set affect fruit quality
17-22.Views:741Thinning is a h ighly crucial point of the apple production technology. According to results of numerous studies the earliest thinning is deemed to have the best amending effects. There can be considerable difference between trees of the same cul tivar and age in a plantation in respect to their flowering, in the numbers of fruits set and also in their canopy volume. Thus it can be crucial -just l ike in the case of pruning- to establish a fruit thinni ng su i ted for specif ic characteristics of actual trees. This experiment was established to examine how does primary fruit set (fruit load before thinning) and further on specific (fruit/TCS cm2) and absolute (fruit/tree) fruit-load of the trees affect quality attri butes at harvest. Our experiment was establ ished in a plantation on medium-tight loamy soil in north-east of Hungary. Harvest date was determined w ith the joint observation of the calendar date, starch-index, flesh firmness, background colour and fruit weight. Three fruit-load levels were established based on local experience and on data of several years, I Ot/ha lower and higher besides the advised optimum yield in the same orchard with slender-spindle shaped 'Gala must' cultivar standing on M9 rootstock in 1m x 3,8 m spacing. In the establishment of the 15, 25 and 35t/ha fruit-load levels on 20-20 apple trees total number of fruits set was counted at each tree. After this number of apples due to be removed was defined using an objective index on the basis of trunk cross sections (fruit/TCScm2) (Lafer, 1999). The following attributes were measured: weight (g), flesh firmness (lb/cm2) total soluble solid content (Brix %) and total titrate-able acid content (g/J).From the data on sugar and acid content quality index (Pomona value) was determined (Thialult, 1970). We could ascertain, that in an orchard, of the same aged but in concern to trunk cross sections somewhat different trees besides the specific index (apple/TCS cm2 the absolute fruit load (fruit/tree) can also be an important data, that has considerable effect on the internal quality. Secondly we could observe, that higher level of fruit load before thinning (primary fruit set) negatively affects quality index of the apples irrespective of the specific fruit load level (fruit/cm2 TCS) set later. Results underlines necessity of the earliest chemical thinn ing.
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Apricot fruit chilling injuries during the cold storage affected by harvest maturity
28-31.Views:449The study aimed to find the effect of different maturity classes (up to the days after full blossom) on the post-harvest life of 3 different apricot varieties Gold Cot, Bergarouge and Flavor Cot in Hungary. The fruit harvested in a particular time 65, 75 and 85 days after full blossom and divided to three maturity classes (Class 1, 2 and 3, respectively). Fruit stored in cold storage for 7 days at temperature 1 °C. Fruits were investigated in regard to physical parameters (weight loss, fruit firmness and soluble solid content SSC) and chilling injuries. The results showed that the varieties followed different ways in regard to response to different maturity classes. The maturity class I for all the tested varieties recorded the lowest weight loss, while with the increasing maturity stage the weight loss percentage for all the varieties recoded high values. The firmness decreased with delayed harvesting for all the varieties. Data of the chilling injuries showed that all the fruits which harvested at maturity I, recorded the highest percentage of fruit with CI (chilling injuries) at 0 (48.5, 37.25 and 38.75%) and CI class I (44.75, 35.75 and 39.75%) for Bergarouge, Gold Cot, and Flavor Cot.
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In vitro effect of different cytokinin types (BAP, TDZ) on two different Ocimum basilicum cultivars explants
15-20.Views:857Ocimum basilicum L. (sweet basil) is an economically and ethnobotanically important aromatic, medicinal, ornamental and culinary herb, with a very wide gene pool, that is sensitive to cold and prone to several plant pathogens that can demolish harvest and lessen yield. In this research, the effects of BAP (6-Benzylaminopurine) and TDZ (Thidiazuron) on different genotypes for in vitro cloning were determined, in order to provide a detailed protocol guide concerning Ocimum basilicum L. propagation. The results from the O. basilicum seed propagations revealed that the best condition for the secondary shoot growth is with 5.0 mg/l TDZ or 1.5 mg/l BAP on all types of explants except the root, the secondary root growth can be obtained on all types explant with any BAP concentration and all cytokinins can induce callus on all types of explants. On the whole, it shows that multiple secondary shoot induction and regeneration in Ocimum basilicum L. is regulated by appropriate cytokinin concentration.
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Relation between the germination and infection ratio on Sida hermaphrodita L. Rusby seeds under hot water treatment
117-121.Views:542Sida hermephrodita or virginia mallow is a perspective perennial herb in the Malvaceae family able to yield a biomass crop through between ten and twenty years. Additionally, the plants have a lot of uses and benefits for instance it can use it as a fodder crop, honey crop, ornamental plant in public gardens. It has favorable features like fast growing and resistance against the disease and climatic fluctuations, etc. Sida is in base stage of domestication therefore has a serious disadvantage the low and slow germination as a big part of wild plants. Due to the expressly low germination percent the need of seed showing of driller is should tenfold, 200 thousand seed/acre instead of 10-20 thousand what is not available and expensive Therefore practical purposes of our research of seed physiology was to increase the seed germination percent in a disposable ,basically wild Sida population. We examined two factors relating to seed germination percent and seed germination power during our research: the influence of hot water treatment and the effect of exogenus or endogenus infection of seed. However, in our germination tests, utilizing scarified seeds with hot water (65, 80 and 95 oC), 29,33 to 46% germinated of the seeds collected from the population of S. hermaphrodita in Debrecen. The average germination for all season was 5-10 % wihitout treatment and rised using hot water up to almost 50%. When physically scarified used, the oldest seeds showed the best germination (46 %) after the hot water operation in spite of the previus studys (Spooner 1985; Chudik et al. 2010; Doliński R. 2009.). We discovered that there are a distinguished close relationship between the seeds collecting time and the infection, as well as germination percentage. Thus, 2009 season was the most favourable in case of contamination (control:17,33 and 80 oC treatment:0%) as well as germination percent. It could be concluded that, the best season for our findings was 2009 due to autumn harvest of Sida seeds. In our oppinion, the autumn harvesting should be the best time to overcome the problem of the low germination and high infection percentage.
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Yield loss caused by fruit rot fungi on sweet cherry in Kyustendil region, Bulgaria
49-52.Views:296The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of fruit rot caused by several fungal pathogens from 1999 to 2003. The study was conducted in three sweet cherry orchards at the Institute of Agriculture (Kyustendil, Bulgaria). One copper containing fungicide was applied in late autumn and early spring. During the growing seasons, 2-5 sprays were applied against fungal diseases. Trees were not sprayed specifically against fruit rot during the growing season, with the exception of 1999, when a spray of myclobutanil was applied after a long rainy period during the maturity of fruits. In one orchard, two nitrogen fertilization treatments were also prepared. In treatment 1, trees were fertilized with ammonium-nitrate 10 g/m2 and in the other treatments trees were not. Incidence of the five most important fruit rot pathogens, Monilinia fructigena, M. laxa, Botritys cinerea, Alternaria alternata and Rhizopus stolonifer was assessed in all orchards. The most severe yield loss (14.80 %) was measured in 1999, when weather conditions were the most favourable for fruit rot development. In this year, brown rots (M. fructigena and M. laxa) caused the highest damage (9.22 and 4.04 %, respectively) out of all assessed fruit rot pathogens. In all other years, yield loss was significantly lower than in 1999. In 2002, A. alternata caused the main fruit rot (4.46%) and all other fungi were less important, while in 2003, B. cinerea caused considerable yield loss (2.28 %) compared to all other fruit rot pathogens. Experiments on fertilization showed that nitrogen significantly increased fruit rot damage in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003. The effect of nitrogen fertilization was higher in years with rainy periods around harvest (1999 and 2002) compared to more dry years (2000 and 2001). Results were compared with similar studies and biological interpretations of the results are discussed.
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Changing of inert content values of apricot varieties
39-41.Views:581The consumers have been exigent increasingly about excellent quality. The speci fie flavour and fragrance of apricot evolve during ripening. We need to be acquainted with changing of inert content during ripening to the choosing of optimal harvest time. The Regional University Knowled ge Centre -Research and Development in Foodstuff Chain project had presented an opportun ity to study the inner content of apricot. Our aim was to study evaluation of health care attributes of apricot fruit. We investigated different ripeness samples of four apricot varieties ('Mandulakajszi', 'Pann 6nia', 'Gonci magyar kajszi'. 'Harcot') in our study of 2007-2009. Samples were taken the orchard of Sóskútfruct Ltd. Hungary. We had measured the water soluble antioxidant capacity, polyphenol-, f3-carotene content and the dissimilar sugar and acid-fractions during ripening. We had experienced significant different in inert content between varieties.
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Evaluation of generative accomplishment of new apple cultivars in Hungary
11-15Views:954In a two year study, 14 new apple cultivars (cvs ’Gala Venus Fengal’, ’Gala Decarli-Fendeca’, ’Galaval’, ’Jugala’, ’Gala Schnitzer (S) Schniga’, ’Red Cap Valtod (S)’, ’Early Red One’, ’Jeromine’, ’Crimson Crisp (Co-op 39)’, ’Red Topaz’, ’Wilton’s Red Jonaprince’, ’Red Idared’, ’Fuji September Wonder’ and club cultivar) were studied in Eastern Hungary at Nyírbátor. The following parameters were measured: trunk cross sectional area (cm2), harvest time with yield (date, kg/tree, number/tree), fruit size (mm), fruit surface color (%), and color intensity of the fruit surface (1-5). According to our two year assessments regarding, the best generative accomplishment was achieved for the cvs ‘Gala’ sorts trained to slender spindle and the cv ‘Red Jonaprince’ trained to super spindle. According to the trunk cross sectional area the ‘Gala’ sport trained to slender spindle showed the strongest growth among the 4 years old trees, while the cv ‘Fuji SW’ and the cv ‘Jeromine’ presented lower vegetative accomplishment. The ripening time of the cultivars started at the end of August and finished at the beginning of October. ‘Gala’ mutants trained to slender spindle provided the highest yields. Fruit size of all cultivars reached the market required standard, however, cvs ‘Red Jonaprince’ and ‘Red Idared’ produced large fruits over 90 mm. The fruit size of the ‘Gala’ sort was 72–75 mm. Most of the cultivars showed high fruit surface color and color intensity.
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The size of the canopy of sour cherry trees depends on the time of pruning
49-52.Views:466The intensive culture of sour cherry is achieved by training of trees to form smaller canopies not by means of dwarfing rootstocks but by growth moderation techniques. The rootstocks traditionally used cause vigorous growth, and it is up to the technology to apply procedures less utilised earlier for that purpose. One of those techniques is the transfer of hibernal pruning to the estival period. The best term of the latter is the period of 1-3 weeks after fruit harvest.
The prolongation of the period of favourable illumination and the reduction of the canopy size facilitate higher densities of planting (number of trees per hectare) and a better exploitation of the crown (specific yield). The regular use of summer pruning resulted also in a better quality of fruit.
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The effect of storage to optical properties in case of two apple fruit varieties
33-36.Views:1221The keeping quality of fruits is a very important factor in storage point of view, since it could be elongated the consumption time of fruits. In many cases the storage may be necessary, e.g. in short time it is not able to market due to the rich harvest, or all fruits could sell in markets throughout the year. The keeping quality of various fruit species is greatly different; moreover it could be observed some differences between the varieties as well. In our research, we have investigated the spectral properties of the external surface and fl esh of two ripe apple varieties – Jonagored and Granny Smith – before and after storage (about 3°C and about three weeks). The hyperspectral investigation was carried out with AvaSpec-2048 Fiber Optic Spectrometer. The experimental results represented the differences between healthy and chilling injured apple fruits. Furthermore, some indices were created to given countenance to the spectral differences.
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The effect of pre-fruiting temperatures on the yield of Pleurotus strains
49-51.Views:321Authors studied the effect of different temperatures prior to fruit body appearance on the yield of 3 Pleurotus strains P70, HK35 and 357. After 17 days of incubation at 25 °C and 28 °C the substrate blocks were kept for 7 days at 13, 16, 19, 22 and 25 °C. Then temperature was reduces to 16 °C during harvest time. Tests showed difference of some degrees in the optimal prefruiting temperature requirements of the strains which could result in even in 10-15% surplus yield. It is advisable to use technologies specially adapted to strains.
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Variety specific integrated fruit production development in order to optimize inner content values
27-31.Views:489In this paper we introduce our results of three years (2007-2009) investigatio ns carried out in the framework of "Research and development in foodstaff chain" - project of Regional University Knowledge Center by the members of Corvi nus U niversity of Budapest - Department of Pomology and. Research Institute for Fru it growing and Ornamentals. Budapest-Erd. The main objectives of the project were the followings: submi ssion of sour cherry candidate suitable for industrial process for state approval; determination of physica l parameter and inner content value changes of sour cherry varieties duri ng ripening; evaluation of health care attributes of sour cherry fruit; ripen ing process description by the colour and the force required to pick fruits of sour cherry. We stated that the optimal begi nning and period of the harvest can be determined wi th the fruit removal force. In this period the fruit growth stops. ju iciness rat io does not change. refractions are approximately equal.acidic content turns to decreasing trend.However the proportion of anthocyan in and polypheno l can still increase. Fruits harvested in this period fulfil a wide range of industrial process opportunities. 'Erdi jubileum ·and candidate IV-3/48 according to their inner content values arc suitable for high quality products (containing real fruit material in high proportion).
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Blumeriella jaapii (Rehm) v. (Arx) infection of some sweet cherry cultivars in two years with different precipitation conditions
37-39.Views:327We examined Blumeriella jaapii (Rehm) v. (Arx) infection on 21 sweet cherry cultivars in the cultivar-collection of the Experimental Station Pallag of the University of Debrecen, in 2004 and 2005. Considerable differences were detected in the infection degree of the different cultivars. In 2005, due to the more humid weather, the average infection highly exceeded data of the previous year. No symptomless cultivars were detected in either year. The least sensitive ones were Linda and the cultivar 11/106. The most sensitive cultivars were Early Müncheberg, Biggareau burlat and Round Solymári. Infection degrees of Alex, Rita and Vega were different from those of other cultivars on the basis of the two experimental years.
It is important to consider both the specific weather conditions of the year and cultivar resistance at planning the plant protection system. It is recommended for each cultivar to perform a fungicide-spaying after the harvest.
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Effect of fertilizer types and ethylene remediation agents on weight loss and shelf life of stored tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruits
22-33.Views:193This experiment was conducted to determine the influence of fertilizer types and ethylene remediation agents on postharvest shelf-life of tomato fruit. The experiment was conducted at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. Fruits were produced under four fertilizer treatment levels (Poultry manure, NPK 15:15:15, Poultry manure + NPK 15:15:15 and Control) and were harvested at breaker stage of maturity. The post-harvest treatments consist of eight ethylene remediation agents (ERAs) which includes three levels of 1-Methylcyclopropene (0.1 µL/L 1-MCP, 0.3 µL/L 1-MCP, 0.5 µL/L 1-MCP), two levels of Potassium tetraoxomanganate VII (5% 10% KMnO4), two levels of Zeolite (10 g and 20 g) and Open shelf as control. The parameters observed included fruit weight loss and days to spoilage (1st, 50% and 100%). It was observed that fruits produced with sole poultry manure and NPK 15-15-15 and stored in the media of 5% KMnO4 had a shelf life of 45 days, longer than observed in other fertilizer regimes. Fruits stored in 0.3 µL/L1-MCP, 0.5µL/L1-MCP and 5% KMnO4 concentrations as ERAs had reduced weight loss and delayed spoilage that translated to longer shelf-life. Fruits grown with poultry manure and treated with 0.3 µL/L1-MCP, 0.5µL/L1-MCP and 5% KMnO4 had better performance in terms of fruit firmness and shelf life compared to other treatments. The use of either 1-MCP or 5% KMnO4 is recommended as efficient ethylene scavengers in a storage medium for tomato fruit shelf-life extension.
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Effect of postharvest on the economic viability of walnut production
28-38.Views:756In this study we were studying the question whether walnut production under domestic natural and economic circumstances shall be considered a profitable activity or not. Our partial objective is to determine, what level of natural inputs and production costs are required for walnut production, what yield level, selling price and production value can be attained, what level of profitability, rentability and efficiency may production have, is the establishment of a walnut orchard profitable on the entire lifespan of the plantation, and the production of which is more efficient: the dry shelled walnut production requiring postharvest activity or the raw, shelled walnut without postharvest activities. In this study, comparison of two systems is conducted. First version: producer establishes a walnut plantation and sells walnut raw and shelled. Second version: producer also invests into a drying facility, and in this case the end product is the dry, shelled walnut. If the producer sells walnut right after harvest in a raw bulk, total production costs in productive years reaches 974,011 HUF/ha. Attainable yield is 2.63 t/ha with 396.3 HUF/kg selling price, therefore the profit is 138,258 HUF/ha with 14.19% cost-related profitability. In the case when the producer sells dried, shelled walnut, production costs are 25% higher compared to that of raw walnut due to the cost of drying. By calculating with the postharvest loss, average yield is 1.84 t/ha, however, its selling price is way higher (882.84 HUF/kg), therefore the profit per hectare reaches 475,496 HUF with 39.01% cost-related profitability. Thus it can be stated that walnut production in an average year may be profitable even without postharvest, but efficiency is improved significantly when the producer sells the products dried. Investment profitability analysis revealed that production of raw, shelled walnut is not economically viable, since the plantation does not pay off on its entire lifespan (30 years), while walnut production with postharvest is efficient and rentable, since both net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) showed more favourable values than in the previous case, and the orchard pays off in the 21th year after establishment.
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Water relations of sour cherries (minireview)
103-107.Views:433Recently, the sour cherries as food resources become more important for health preservation and so the modernization of growing technology in sour cherry production will be timely. The global warming and inadequate distribution of precipitation result a decrease in the alternancy of sour cherry production, as well. Sour cherries rather adapted to survival of drought than sweet cherry trees therefore a few studies performed to explore the water requirement of sour cherry varieties. The rootstocks, the type of soils in plantation and the water balance influence the water management of sour cherries. In orchards, in particular first year plantation, use of various row covering contribute to preservation of the natural water pool of soil and affect on the tree vigor, yield and fruit quality. Wide-spread application of integrated fruit growing technology and climate changes the researches are pointed to develop efficient irrigation technology based on transpiration yield model. The crop model based on use of meteorological data was developed for cherry orchards in order to predict transpiration of trees, dry matter production and fruit yield. The linear relationship between dry matter accumulation and transpiration was verified for sour cherry trees. Other models essay to asses the effects of climate changes on crop production. Importance of economical production and fruit quality such as ingredients of raw materials and food increases in intensive sour cherry orchards used by irrigation techniques. Because of climate changes it should more pay attention to research concerning on the stress physiological response of sour cherry varieties and post-harvest fruit quality.
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Impact of substrate supplemented with CaCO3 on mycelial growth, yield, morphological features and storability of fruiting bodies of black poplar mushroom Agrocybe cylindracea (DC.) Marie.
76-86.Views:1069Black poplar mushroom, Agrocybe cylindracea deserves special attention, due to its medicinal properties. Water and alcohol extracts from fruiting bodies of the fungus have an anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-fungal, cholesterol and triglycerides blood level lowering abilities. This mushroom is rich in proteins and vitamins, mineral elements and low in fat. The aim of the experiments was to determine effect of a substrate supplementation with CaCO3 on mycelial growth, yield, morphological features and storability of fruiting bodies of four strains of A. cylindracea (DC.) Marie. The amount of additive to sawdust substrate affects rate of mycelial growth and yield of investigated strains. A. cylindracea mycelial growth was not affected by addition of CaCO3 to substrate, however a significant effect of this additive was found on yield, which was the highest with CaCO3 addition in an amount of 8 g/100 g of substrate. Carpophores characterized with the largest caps diameter, and the largest individual mass obtained of substrate enriched with CaCO3 addition of 8 g/100 g of substrate. In addition, it was found that supplementation with CaCO3 affect storability of A. cylindracea. The lowest weight loss of fruiting bodies after 3 and 7 days of storage was found with addition of CaCO3 to substrate in an amount of 4 g/100 g of substrate.
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The future of the Hungarian sour cherry growing branch
99-104.Views:623The present study deals with the actual situation of the Hungarian sour cherry production in order to outline the chances of the future and the trends of the development anticipated. The general conclusion accepted that on the long run Hungarian sour cherry production ought to be reorganised. The conditions of keeping the position on the international market are outlined: integration of small farms into large plantations (several times 10 hectares), introduction of mechanical harvest and high (15–20 t/ha) yields. For all that, adequate expertise should be developed on the cooperative farms, where the up to date technology could be applied with innovative initiatives. Small farms (up to 1–2 hectares) and home gardens have no chances to stay on the competitive market. The actual volume of sour cherry of 40–70 thousand tons per year cannot be increased in the future. The sour cherry area was 16 000 ha in 2001, the actual is around 12–13 thousand, and will decline during the following 5 years to less than 10 thousand hectares.
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Alternate bearing of 'Golden Reinders' and 'Summered' apples
77-85.Views:1488The aim of the present study was to study the effect of biennial bearing (irregular yields) on the generative production of apple cultivars 'Golden Reinders' and 'Summerred' on M.9 rootstock. The observations were made at Nagykutas in West-Hungary for four years. The authors have studied the flowering time, flower density, fruit density, fruit drop, seed content, yielding and fruit quality in the on-year and off-year. Based on the results, it can be stated that the alternation does not cause a significant change in the flowering time of cvs. 'Golden Reinders' and `Summerred': the difference between the flowering time of trees in the on-year and off-year period was 0-1 day. However, there were significant differences in the flower density. 'Golden Reinders' proved to have a weaker tendency to alternation similarly to the statements of the literature. Alternation (off-year) was observed only in three years from the studied four years. While in the case of `Summerred', strong alternation was observed in all four years. In fruit density, there were differences among the cultivars and among the different cycles of biennial bearing. Fruit density (and its opposite, fruit drop) changed inconsistently in the period between flowering and harvest. In the case of 'Golden Reinders' and 'Summerred' 2 and 4 fruit drop periods were detected, respectively. In the off-year, the different periods were less distinct, in most cases they were overlapping each other. The dynamics of fruit drop was related to seed content per fruit. The lower the seed number was, the higher the degree of fruit drop was. In both the high- and off-year cycles, the number of seeds in fruits on the tree and on the ground increased with time. In the yield parameters (fruit number, fruit load, yield efficiency), the differences were greater among the yields of trees in the high- and off-year cycles for 'Summerred'. The fruit quality parameters were greatly influenced by the fruit load of the trees in the different alternation cycles. In general, it can be stated that fruit mass, diameter and height were lower on trees in the on-year. A similar trend could be observed in flesh firmness, cover colour and dry matter content, but the differences were smaller. 'Summerred' was more sensitive to the differences in fruit load.
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Differing effects of grass and polythene mulches on sweet potato productivity in derived savannah agro-ecology
24-30.Views:482Sweet potato as a food crop that is grown for both its tuberous roots and vegetative parts, the latter of which also serves as animal feed. Its production in the savanna regions can be limited by high evaporative demand, especially where soils with low water retentivity are involved. This work studied the effects of various locally available polythene as mulch materials for sweet potato growth in derived savanna agro-ecology. An experiment was thus conducted at Nsukka, a derived savannah in southeastern Nigeria, with orange fleshed variety of sweet potato. Treatments were polythene mulches of contrasting colours (black, white, red and blue polyethylene), including also organic mulch (dry grasses) as reference and a no-mulch control. The experiment was executed in two successive cropping seasons, and the data averaged and analysed. Agronomic and weed incidence data collection was done fortnightly from 2nd to 10th week of planting. The results showed that the polythene mulches (especially the black one) were better in the control of weeds. Furthermore, the sweet potato yields were affected significantly (p < 0.05) by mulching on the total number of tubers for each plant with grass-mulched plots showing the highest value (36) and transparent polyethylene-mulched plots the lowest (19). Also, total weight of tubers per plant at harvest differed (p < 0.05), with grass-mulched plots showing the highest value (2.39 kg), followed by the control (no mulching) plots (1.62 kg), then the coloured polyethylene mulched plots with the red polyethylene-mulched plots as the lowest (0.64 kg). This study recommends the use of organic mulch or no mulching in sweet potato production in this agro-ecological zone as they produced the best yields.
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Simultaneous impact of the different water supply and year type on processing tomato yield
79-81.Views:418A two year (2008 and 2009) open field experiment was conducted to study the effect of irrigation on the yield parameters and fruit components of processing tomato. Two different treatments were applied: regularly irrigated (RI), irrigation cut-off 30 days before harvest (CO), compared with unirrigated control (RF). The optimal water supply was calculated from average daily temperature. The aims of the study were to investigate the effect of different water supply on yield quantity. The regularly irrigated plant stands gave significantly higher yield, and unirrigated plants showed yield loss.Water supply had strong positive (R2=0.81) effect on marketable yield and average fruit weight (R2=0.78). Linear regression showed, that 46.5 mm more water supply caused 10 t/ha more marketable yield, and 13.4 mm more water supply caused 1 g more in the average fruit weight. The irrigation increased the Brix yield as well.
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Morphological and phenological properties of sour cherry varieties grown in Hungary and their inter-incompatibility relations
114-117.Views:1469Regular observations and experiments were performed during a 14 year period on 6 sour cherry varieties. The morphological traits of leaves and fruits were compared, and the phenology of blooming as well as of ripening dates served to start an estimation of the possibilities of mutual pollination and the planning of harvest operations. Experiments involved obligate autogamy, artificially controlled allogamy and open pollination in order to reveal self-fertility, self-sterility or inter-incompatibility relations.
The varietal characters represent, each, different values in the distinction of the items, because of their intra-varietal variability. From that point of view, the most reliable are the data of blooming and ripening time, fruit size and the fertility relations.
Inter-incompatibility was observed between the group of self-fertile, "Pándy type" varieties (`Újfehértói fürtös’, ‘Debreceni bőtermő’, ‘Kántorjánosi’) on one side and the selection of Pándy 7', a self-sterile variety on the other side. Unilateral incompatibility has been detected within the former group of new, self-fertile varieties, the combinations: (`Újfehértói fürtös’ x ‘Debreceni bőtermő’ as well as `Újfehértói fürtös’ x Kántorjánosi’.
Our results prove the close kinship between those three new varieties and the original Pándy variety on the base of being highly similar in their morphology and also of the fact of their inter-incompatibility, though unilateral.
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Treatments for improving tree growth, yield and fruit quality and for reducing double fruit and deep suture incidence in “Desert red” peach trees
7-19.Views:586Five years old “Desert red” peach trees budded on Nemaguard rootstock and grown in sandy soil at commercial orchard Al-Nubaria city, El-Behira Governorate-Egypt were treated with some agricultural treatments involving thinning out pruning, fruit thinning and foliar application of potassium silicate (25% S +10% K2O) at 0.1% and super grow (20% N, 20% P2O5 and 20% K2O) at 0.3% in 2014 and 2015 seasons, to study their effects on yield and fruit quality and the relationship between nutrient balance and yield of “Desert red” peach trees. Beside, testing the influence of used treatments on two physiological disorder, double fruit and deep suture %. Also, economic evaluation of different treatments was done. All obtained data were statistically analyzed using a randomized complete block design. Depending on the obtained results in this study, it could be concluded that application of thinning out pruning 35%, fruit thinning by leaving 15 cm between fruits on one-year old shoot at 20 days after full bloom and foliar application of potassium silicate which sprayed five times during each growing season at fruit set, the second fruit development stage, the beginning of the fruit color change and twice after month from harvest, most profitable treatment for peach trees grown under conditions of this investigation. This treatment gave the best vegetative growth, yield, fruit quality, higher crop value with high net income /fed. from “Desert red” peach trees, in addition, reduced the percentage of double fruit and deep suture by more than 50% in both seasons, therefore, the study recommends this treatment for “Desert red” peach growers.
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Water relations of apple and influence on fruit quality (minireview)
59-63.Views:590The saving of soil water content and the improvement of adaptability of plants to periodical insufficient water and use of deficit irrigation technology become more important because of the occurrence of frequently dry periods. The water use efficiency of apples can be increased by the choice of appropriate rootstocks and determination of water requirement of varieties that depend on their growing periods and climatic factors. Depletion of soil water resources need to develop efficient irrigation techniques for quality apple production. A new deficit irrigation strategy (PRD) has been developed that based on partial water supply of root-zone. This does not result a decrease in the sizes and yield of the fruit. The larger fruit size and lower firmness in frequently irrigated trees can result in excessive internal growth stresses that cause higher rate of fruit splitting. Many studies revealed the relationship between irrigation and yield quantity. Recent researches investigate the effects of irrigation on apple fruit quality particularly on the colouration and post-harvest quality. Use of cooling irrigation improves the development of coluour an apple fruit but its schedule can influence on the incomes. Aroma volatiles are responsible for odour and contribute to overall flavour of the fruit and its processed products. Deficit irrigation had only affects some volatile aroma but no the all of concentrations in apple fruit. In the future the high apple quality for consumers could be provided with improvement of transpiration-yield model based on the water requirement of varieties and economic irrigation schedules.
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Effect of postharvest sodium benzoate treatment on some fruit parameters of two organic apple cultivars
35-37.Views:1114The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of postharvest sodium-benzoate treatment on some fruit parameters of two organic apple cultivars (’Topaz’ and ’Florina’). Assessments were made at three times during storage: 17 November 2019, 20 December 2019 and 23 January, 2020. During every assessment dates, each fruit was observed separately, and determined the proportion of i) healthy fruits (%), ii) post-harvest fruit rot diseases iii) fruits with mechanical injury (%), iv) fruit with russetting (%), v) damage of codling moth and vi) Ca-deficiency symptoms. In addition, fruit weight (g) was measured at each assessment date. Sodium benzoate reduced the fruit decay and the proportion of healthy fruit was higher in this treatment compared to water treated fruit. This effect could be seen in all assessment dates and on both cultivars. Effects on other parameters were various according to cultivar and assessment dates. Loss of fruit weight was similar in both treatments and cultivars compared to control treatment.
