Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Fruit quality of ‘Pacific Rose’ ^TM apple grown under partial rootzone drying and deficit irrigation

Author(s):

Ben M. van Hooijdonk, Karma Dorji, M. Hossein Behboudian ^*

Recieved Date: 2007-01-08, Accepted Date: 2007-06-25

Abstract:

Water is limited world-wide and water saving irrigation practices are essential for crops, like apple, that are grown over wide acreages and within water limited regions. In a field experiment, we investigated plant water relations, yield and fruit quality of ‘Pacific Rose’™ apple under the following irrigation treatments: commercially irrigated (CI) control, where soil was maintained near field capacity throughout the season; partial rootzone drying (PRD), where half of the irrigation volume of CI was applied to only one side of the rootzone; and no irrigation (NI), where water was withheld for the duration of the experiment. From 62 days after full bloom (DAFB), the volumetric soil water content of NI and the un- irrigated PRD side were significantly lower than CI and the irrigated PRD side. Leaf water potential of PRD was generally similar to CI throughout the season, whereas leaf water potential of NI was lower than CI from 123 DAFB. Fruit yield and quality at harvest were similar among the treatments. However, PRD and NI fruit were firmer and had less weight loss during postharvest storage. In addition to enhancement of fruit storage potential, water savings of 0.78 and 1.56 megalitres per hectare occurred for PRD and NI treatments, respectively. Both PRD and NI are suitable for humid environments similar to that of the experimental site, while PRD may also have potential to save water in arid climates.

Keywords:

Irrigation use efficiency, water relations, postharvest fruit quality

---

Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2007
Volume: 5
Issue: 3&4
Category: Agriculture
Pages: 173-178

---

Full text for Subscribers

---

Information:

Note to users

The requested document is freely available only to subscribers/registered users with an online subscription to the Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment. If you have set up a personal subscription to this title please enter your user name and password. All abstracts are available for free.

Article purchasing

If you like to purchase this specific document such as article, review or this journal issue, contact us. Specify the title of the article or review, issue, number, volume and date of the publication. Software and compilation, Science & Technology, all rights reserved. Your use of this website details or service is governed by terms of use. Authors are invited to check from time to time news or information.

---

Purchase this Article:   20 Purchase PDF Order Reprints for 15

---

Share this article :