Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Vol. LXIII, Issue 2
Written by Florin STĂNICĂ
In the last 40 years there was a continuous struggle to increase the orchard productivity specially by increasing the fruit trees planting density. The availability of low or medium vigour rootstocks in most fruit species created the possibility of raising the planting densities in apple and pear. The general tendency is to create canopies with vertical axes garnished with non-permanent, renewable fruit branches. The number of axes varies from one to three per canopy: more vigorous is the tree, more axes are formed and the total vigour is split on more growing directions. The main concern is to ensure a sufficient productive canopy volume per hectare and a high light interception in order to obtain high quality fruits and high and constant yield. The paper presents some new ideas on rootstocks use and alternative methods to control the tree vigour, new planting systems and discussions on actual canopies as Vertical axe, Bi-Baum®, Parallel V and Trident. New pruning techniques to balance the tree growth and fruiting capacity are explained.
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