Timing and Severity of Postharvest Water Stress Affect Following-year Productivity and Fruit Quality of Field-grown `Snow Queen' Nectarine

Abstract

<jats:p>The effects of the timing and severity of postharvest water stress on the productivity and fruit quality of field-grown nectarine [<jats:italic>Prunus persica</jats:italic> (L.) Batsch cv. Snow Queen] were studied for two consecutive years. Three levels of postharvest water status (midday stem water potentials of -1.2, -2.0, and -2.8 MPa) were examined. They were designated as High, Med, and Low, respectively. In the second year two additional treatments were examined in which Low and Med water status were interchanged on 1 Sept. 2002, and these treatments were designated as Low/Med and Med/Low. The percentages of double fruits and of those having a deep suture increased with decreasing postharvest midday stem water potential during the previous year, and most of these defects were stimulated by water deficits that occurred prior to 1 Sept. Postharvest water stress led to decreased crop yield in the subsequent year because there were fewer fruits per tree. Flower buds with double pistils were first noticed in mid-September, and by mid-November the ranking of double pistils in the various treatments were similar to the ranking of double fruits measured a month after bloom in the subsequent season. Postharvest water stress delayed flower bud development. The percentage of double fruits increased from 10% in 2002 to 40% in 2003 and the higher percentage in 2003 was associated with higher air temperatures during the reproductive bud development stage in 2002 than in 2001. Our data and others suggest that high temperatures create a potential for the occurrence of double fruits, but that the fulfillment of that potential is highly dependent on postharvest tree water status. The occurrence of double and deep suture fruits were highly correlated with midday stem water potential in August of the previous year, i.e., during the initial stages of flower bud development. The occurrence of double fruits was observed to increase sharply as the midday stem water potentials fell below -2.0 MPa, which suggests that a midday stem water potential of -2.0 MPa could serve as a threshold for postharvest irrigation scheduling.</jats:p>

Effects of post-harvest deficit irrigation in ‘Red Beaut’ Japanese plum: Tree water status, vegetative growth, fruit yield, quality and economic return

“…In this year, fruit thinning was also performed as a result of the high fruit set in that year (with 216, 347 and 333 fruit tree −1 removed for Control, RDI-60 and RDI-30, respectively). In cherry (Marsal et al, 2010), peach (Girona et al, 2003), nectarine (Naor et al, 2005) and pear (Marsal et al, 2012), fresh fruit weight was higher in stressed than unstressed trees, probably because the higher crop load in the stressed trees caused a significant increase in fruit-to-fruit competition by carbon availability (Grossman and DeJong, 1995;Berman and DeJong, 1996;Naor et al, 2001). The lower fresh fruit weight in 2012 in both irrigation treatments compared to the other years can be attributed to various factors.…”

“…However, the post-harvest period is long and may therefore be a more suitable period for irrigation restriction (Johnson et al, 1994;Naor et al, 2006;Marsal et al, 2010), offering the opportunity to reduce vegetative growth and save water without interfering with fruit growth in the current season (Chalmers et al, 1981;Behboudian and Mills, 1997;Naor, 2006;Fereres and Soriano, 2007). Any deficit irrigation must be applied with caution as severe water stress during post-harvest could have a detrimental effect on yield and fruit disorders in the following year, as reported for peach (Girona et al, 2003(Girona et al, , 2005Naor et al, 2005;, apricot (Ruiz-Sanchez et al, 1999;Torrecillas et al, 2000) and almond (Goldhamer and Viveros, 2000;Marsal et al, 2008). The decrease in yield caused by severe postharvest water stress in the previous year has been attributed to lower fruit set (Ruiz-Sanchez et al, 1999;Goldhamer and Viveros, 2000;Torrecillas et al, 2000;Girona et al, 2003;Naor et al, 2006) due to lower pollen viability (Ruiz-Sanchez et al, 1999) and lower winter starch reserves .…”

“…In contrast, a moderate level of post-harvest water stress did not affect final fruit size, fruit number per tree or yield in peaches (Larson et al, 1988;Johnson et al, 1992;Girona et al, 2005). Another factor that may explain the reduction in fruit set following water stress late in the season is the long-term impact of year-to-year carry-over effects (Johnson and Handley, 2000;Girona et al, 2003;Intrigliolo and Castel, 2005;Naor et al, 2005;Goldhamer et al, 2006;Intrigliolo et al, 2013). A recent study that evaluated carry-over effects in mid-maturing Japanese plum (Intrigliolo et al, 2013) concluded that RDI impaired fruit bearing capacity, but did not impair yield because the cultivar employed in that study required intense thinning.…”

Soft computing applied to stem water potential estimation: A fuzzy rule based approach

“…In peach trees, water deficits during the second fruit rapid growth phase are more harmful than in other phenological stages (Besset et al, 2001;Naor et al, 2005), and the postharvest phase is the most suitable period for applying irrigation deficits Mounzer et al, 2008). For the implementation of regulated deficit irrigation strategies, crop critical periods, the overlapping stages of vegetative and fruit growth and the exact plant response to water deficits under local conditions must be understood (Abrisqueta et al, 2010;Girona et al, 2003;Girona et al, 2005).…”

Effects of post-harvest water stress on autumnal bloom and subsequent-season productivity in mid-season ‘Spadona’ pear

“…However, the flower organs in the reproductive buds of pome and stone fruits develop during the post-harvest period (Westwood, 1993), and severe post-harvest water stress has been found to result in decreased subsequent-season productivity in stone fruits (Brown, 1953;Girona et al, 2003;Goldhamer and Viveros, 2000;Johnson et al, 1994;Naor et al, 2005;Naor, 2006;Ruiz-Sanchez et al, 1999;Torrrecillas et al, 2000;Uriu, 1964). The decrease in productivity caused by severe post-harvest water stress was attributed to reduced flowering intensity (Brown, 1953;Girona et al, 2003) and lower fruit set (Girona et al, 2003;Goldhamer and Viveros, 2000;Naor et al, 2005;Ruiz-Sanchez et al, 1999;Torrecillas et al, 2000). The lower fruit set in apricot was attributed to reduced pollen viability (Ruiz-Sanchez et al, 1999).…”