Efficiency of irrigation and fertigation in a mature apple orchard: a Latvia experience

E. Rubauskis, V. Jansons, V. Berlands
In the largest part of world fruit production regions apples are mainly grown on dwarf rootstocks and irrigation is applied as a standard practice. In Latvia most of orchards have no irrigation due to 667 mm of average annual precipitation and comparably low evapotranspiration. The productivity of commercial orchards is low due to insufficient available water in soil especially during periods important to generative development of apples. The aim of the investigation was to evaluate the efficiency of irrigation and fertigation in a mature apple orchard with cultivars ‘Auksis’, ‘Zarya Alatau’ and ‘Spartan’ grown on M.9 dwarfing rootstock in the environmental conditions of Latvia. The drip irrigation system was established ten years after planting the apple trees. During the period of 2008-2018 the productivity was larger in the irrigated/fertigated plots with an average of 33.4-34.1 t ha‑1 with an increase of productivity ranging from 5.3 to 6.0 t ha‑1. For productivity, statistically provable differences between cultivars were observed in nine vegetation seasons of 11. The size of fruits differed statistically insignificant between the treatments, and observed cultivar differences in most of cases could be explained by genetic characteristics and crop load. Statistically provable influence of additionally provided water to the growth of mature apple-trees was not found.
Rubauskis, E., Jansons, V. and Berlands, V. (2022). Efficiency of irrigation and fertigation in a mature apple orchard: a Latvia experience. Acta Hortic. 1335, 507-514
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2022.1335.63
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2022.1335.63
Malus, drip irrigation, precipitation, dwarf rootstocks, fruit size, growth
English

Acta Horticulturae