Decrease in artificial radiation with netting reduces stress and improves rabbit-eye blueberry ( Vaccinium virgatum Aiton) ‘Ochlockonee’ productivity

Abstract

Blueberry production under netting has increased in recent years to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of different radiation intensities on rabbit-eye blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum Aiton) 'Ochlockonee' photosynthetic efficiency and productive parameters. Four treatments were established: T1 (control), T2, T3, and T4 at 0%, 30%, 60%, and 90% radiation decrease (RD), respectively, with black shedding netting. The following were recorded for each treatment: environmental conditions, photosystem II (PSII) maximum quantum yield (F v /F m ), photosystem II effective quantum yield (Φ PSII ), leaf stomatal conductance (g s ), quality parameters, and fruit yield. Results showed an increase of 4.6 ºC in mean minimum temperatures for the different netting treatments, which promote development and fruit set, as well as prevent damage at temperatures near 0 ºC. The RD treatments increased Φ PSII between 175% and 325% (P < 0.05) compared to the control. It can be concluded that netting decreased soil temperature between 1 and 3 ºC and increased minimum temperatures between 1 and 6 ºC, which promoted plant development and decreased frost damage during flowering and fruit development. Current direct radiation levels over 1000 µmol m -2 s -1 in V. virgatum inhibited productivity in T1. Netting decreased the degree of photoinhibition and increased photosystem II photochemical efficiency throughout the day, and T4 and T3 exhibited the highest efficiency. K e y w o r d s : P h o t o s y s t e m I I , p h o t o i n h i b i t i o n ,photosynthetically active radiation, stomatal conductance.

Reflective mulch increases fruit yield of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L. cv. Darrow) grown in a northern maritime environment while maintaining key fruit quality traits

“…The light environment has also been demonstrated to impact fruit quality with reduced light intensity caused by shading nets significantly influencing soluble solids, 11,20,22 titratable acidity 11,20 and fruit firmness. 20,21 Furthermore, growth of the southern highbush cultivar O'Neal over reflective mulch increased the total phenol and total anthocyanin content of the fruit, 15 and similar results have been observed in other fruit crops such as strawberry, 16 grape 23 and apple. 24 An additional objective was therefore to determine whether reflective mulch had any impact on fruit quality, particularly as quality is an important factor for the fresh blueberry market, for which the vast majority of UK fruit is destined.…”

“…20 Growth of 'Duke' highbush blueberry under hail protection nets that reduced PAR by 5-20%, dependent on ambient conditions, resulted in a significant increase in fruit yield compared with open field growing conditions in Serbia, southeastern Europe, 11 while yield increases were observed with up to 90% shading when the rabbiteye (V. virgatum) cultivar Ochlockonee was cultivated in Chile. 21 Conversely, cultivar Brigitta grown in the Araucanía region of Chile exhibited a trend towards reduced yield under various shading nets that was significant when as little as 18% of PAR was shaded 22 and a negative correlation between shade and yield was observed in 'Bluecrop' fruit cultivated under high light and high temperature conditions. 18 Taken together these data indicate that the impact of light quality and quantity on yield is dependent on several factors including cultivation region and cultivar.…”

The Use of Compost Increases Bioactive Compounds and Fruit Yield in Calafate Grown in the Central South of Chile

“…Using the same equipment and the same frequencies as for Fv/Fm, a record of the leaf temperature (Tf; • C) was kept. In order for the data collected to be representative, these were taken on leaves exposed to the sun and in the second third of a branch of the season [14].…”

Effect of shade cloth on fruit and leaf nutritional concentration and bitter pit incidence in &#8216;Fuji&#8217; apples

“…Those changes could also affect the nutritional composition in leaves and other structures such as fruits. Reported benefits of shade cloths include improved blueberry fruit quality (Lobos et al, 2013), changes in the development of apple color (Blanke, 2007), increased photosynthesis in blueberry (Kim et al, 2011), increased yield with reduced blueberry fruit firmness (Retamal-Salgado et al, 2017), decreased pH and increased titratable acidity in grapes (Martínez-Lüscher et al, 2017), reduced bacterial disease in kiwifruit plants (Chiabrando and Giacalone, 2018), and decreased direct sun damage in apples related to increased photosynthetic efficiency on fruit peel by reducing excess light energy and fruit temperature (Olivares-Soto and Bastías, 2018).…”