Effect of the environmentally friendly production systems on the vegetative characteristics of apple cultivars

Abstract

In this study effect of the environmentally friendly production systems on the brunch cross sectional area of apple trees trained to free spindle canopy are presented based on the data of 39 cultivars. According to our results branch thickness of the apple cultivars located in the lower, middle and upper region of the tree are more homogenous in the integrated production system compared to the organic one. Therefore the severity of the annual maintain pruning must be necessarily more moderate in the integrated growing system, than in the organic production system.

Branching features of apple cultivars in integrated and organic production technology

“…Cvs 'Mutsu' (5.0) and 'London pepin' (6.0) displayed the highest number of branches besides that, they presented the lowest branch thickness values, based on our previous work (Dremák et al, 2017). Comparing the two production systems among the cultivars 'Jonica' (3.8; 3.1) and 'London pepin' (6.0; 4.9) showed the largest difference, latter one also reaching the highest ramification.…”

“…In the organic production technology, fewer number of branches was counted on the central leader in all high zones, compared to the integrated production technology. In the integrated system thickness of the branches were obviously thinner (Dremák et al, 2017), which can be related with their higher number. Branches spaced with larger distances from each other in the organic growing system can develop more freely, thus the concurrency is more moderate among them, on the other hand the better illumination helps also their thickening.…”

“…Highest ramification was observed with cvs 'London pepin' (10.5), 'Gala' (10.0) and 'Téli piros pogácsa ' (9.8). Taking into account also their branch thickness (Dremák et al, 2017), that fact is not surprising, as they can be grouped to the cultivars with thin branches.…”

“…In previous studies (Holb et al, 2012(Holb et al, , 2017Holb, 2000Holb, , 2007Holb, , 2008Holb and Scherm, 2008;Dremák et al, 2015Dremák et al, , 2016Dremák et al, , 2017, the effect of integrated and organic production on the trunk, central axis, branch thickness and fungal diseases was examined. The aim of our study was to show the number of the branches of the central leader in various height of the tree in integrated and organic production.…”