Search results for "harvest index"

Fruit productivity and carbon gain of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. trees

2012

Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) tree and orchards efficiency has been poorly studied, in terms of relation between orchard lay out, light interception, and cropping efficiency. Apparently, there is no other way to increase orchard production than increasing the number either of trees ha-1 or fertile shoots tree-1, considering that a fruit count higher than 6-7 cladode-1 reduces fruit harvest size. The first option requires a reduction of unit tree size and canopy volume. The second option implies the use of large trees that often reduce their efficiency 12-15 years after planting. In 15-year-old OFI trees spaced 6 5 m apart trained to a globe and 2.5-3.0 m high, stem area index (SAI) calculated …