Search results for "HORTICULTURE"
showing 10 items of 1421 documents
Micrometeorological and sap flow measurement of water vapour exchanges in olive: Scaling up from canopy to orchard
2009
A comparison of water consumption evaluated at tree and orchard level was carried out in a commercial olive orchard located in Sicily using up-scaled sap-flow evapotranspiration estimations and eddy covariance measurements. Sap flow probes were installed on olive trees placed in one of the four plots characterizing a heterogeneous orchard. Trees were chosen, from a preliminary footprint analysis, in correspondence to the peak of the “relative normalized contribution” to flux for the prevailing wind conditions measured by an eddy covariance station localized in the central part of the orchard. Tree-age and planting density as well as main tree and orchard characteristics (Leaf Area per tree,…
Monitoring Yield and Fruit quality parameters in Open-Canopy Tree crops under Water Stress. Implications for ASTER
2007
Work on water stress detection at tree and orchard levels using a high-spatial airborne thermal sensor is presented, showing its connection with yield and some fruit quality indicators in olive and peach commercial orchards under different irrigation regimes. Two airborne campaigns were conducted with the Airborne Hyperspectral Scanner (AHS) over olive and peach orchards located in Córdoba, southern Spain. The AHS sensor was flown at three different times on 25 July 2004 and 16 July 2005, collecting 2 m spatial resolution imagery in 80 spectral bands in the 0.43– 12.5 μm spectral range. Thermal bands were assessed for the retrieval of land surface temperature using the split-window algorith…
Effects of partial rootzone drying and rootstock vigour on dry matter partitioning of apple trees (Malus domesticacvar Pink Lady)
2011
SUMMARYThe effects of partial rootzone drying (PRD) and rootstock vigour on dry matter accumulation and partitioning among leaves, shoots, fruits, frame and roots of apple trees (Malus domesticaBorkh. cvar Pink Lady) were investigated in 2005 near Caltavuturo, in Sicily. In a first field trial, trees on MM.106 rootstock were subjected to: conventional irrigation (CI), maintaining soil moisture above 0·80 of field capacity; PRD irrigation, where alternating sides of the rootzone received 0·50 of the CI irrigation water; and continuous deficit irrigation (DI), where 0·50 of the CI water was equally applied to both sides of the rootzone. In a second trial, trees on M.9 or MM.106 were subjected…
High-resolution UAV imagery for field olive (Olea europaea L.) phenotyping
2021
Remote sensing techniques based on images acquired from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could represent an effective tool to speed up the data acquisition process in phenotyping trials and, consequently, to reduce the time and cost of the field work. In this study, we assessed the ability of a UAV equipped with RGB-NIR cameras in highlighting differences in geometrical and spectral canopy characteristics between eight olive cultivars planted at different planting distances in a hedgerow olive orchard. The relationships between measured and estimated canopy height, projected canopy area and canopy volume were linear regardless of the different cultivars and planting distances (RMSE of 0.12 m…
The effect of soil volume on the growth of roots and canopy of Opuntia ficus-indica
2019
The influence of soil volume on root development and canopy growth rates of cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) was studied at Palermo University, Italy, in 2014-2016. In November 2014, 60 1-year-old O. ficus-indica cladodes were planted in pots containing five different soil volumes, 50, 33, 18, 9 or 5 L, in a complete randomized design with three replications. Root dry mass, total number of cladodes and canopy dry mass were measured after 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. The results revealed a significant effect of soil volume and sampling time and their interaction (P<0.01) on root dry mass, total number of cladodes and canopy dry mass. Root dry mass ranged between 23 and 206 g, with the highe…
CO2 uptake of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. whole trees and single cladodes, in relation to plant water status and cladode age
2013
Most of net photosynthesis determinations in Opuntia ficus-indica come from measurements on individual cladodes. However, they have limitations when used to scale up to whole canopy gas exchange, because a large variability of carbon assimilation may occur within the canopy, due to, among others, differences in cladode age and intercepted radiation or individual cladode response to abiotic stresses. The aim of this work was to evaluate the application of open gas exchange chambers, simultaneously applied around the whole canopy, to measure net CO 2 uptake, continuously over a 24 h period, in single Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. potted trees and in relation with their water status. Net CO2…
Influence of within-tree and environmental factors on fruit quality of cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) in Italy
2010
Introduction . Opuntia ficus-indica fruit quality was studied, in the main sites for cactus pear cultivation in Italy, with the ultimate goal of understanding the main sources of variability and increasing crop value. Materials and methods. A first study was carried out in 2006 on mature Opuntia ficus-indica trees, cvs. Gialla and Rossa, grown in ten commercial orchards located in the main sites for their cultivation in Italy. Trees were managed to produce an out-of-season crop in October, through the removal of the spring flush at bloom time, during the first week of June. Trees had a similar crop [(52 ± 10) kg of fruits·tree–1 ], and no more than six fruits were left on each of the fruiti…
Effect of planting system on productivity, dry-matter partitioning and carbohydrate content in aboveground components of 'Flordaprince' peach trees
1999
Vegetative growth, fruit yields, and dry matter partitioning within above-ground components were assessed during three growing seasons for trees of an early ripening peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch `Flordaprince' on GF 677 rootstock) trained either to a free standing central leader (930 trees/ha) or to Y shape (1850 trees/ha). Individual trees trained to central leader gave higher fruit yield, had a significantly greater leaf area and accumulated more dry mass in above-ground components per tree than Y shape trees. The training systems did not differ in terms of yield efficiency (yield per trunk cross-sectional area) and leaf area index (LAI), but Y shape trees had a higher harvest index an…
Effect of water stress on dry matter accumulation and partitioning in pot-grown olive trees (cv Leccino and Racioppella)
2013
Abstract Three different water regimes were applied on young pot-grown olive trees of the cultivars Leccino and Racioppella, amounting to 100% (treatment T100), 50% (treatment T50) and 25% (treatment T25) of water transpiration as determined by pot weight. During the two-year trial the following parameters were measured: midday stem water potential, shoots growth, total leaf area per tree, dry matter accumulation and partitioning in different parts of the plant (root, wood, leaves and fruits). Dry matter was affected by the water regime and cultivar. The cv Leccino, for T100, displayed a greater accumulation of total dry matter and fruit dry matter, while these two parameters were greatly r…
Evaluating carbon fluxes in orange orchards in relation to planting density
2009
SUMMARYOrange (Citrus sinensis L.) is one of the main fruit crops worldwide and its evergreen orchards may have a great potential for carbon (C) sequestration, but no data are currently available. In order to understand carbon fluxes in orange orchards, an experiment was undertaken on traditional and intensive planting systems.The experiment used C. sinensis scions grafted onto Citrus aurantium (bitter orange) rootstock. One orchard contained 14-year-old trees of the cv. Tarocco Scirè (a blood orange) grown in a traditional system with 494 trees/ha. The second orchard contained 12-year-old trees of the cv. Newhall (a seedless navel orange) grown in an intensive system with 1000 trees/ha. Ne…