Yield and Economic Results of Different Mechanical Pruning Strategies on “Navel Foyos” Oranges in the Mediterranean Area

Patricia Chueca, Guillermo Mateu, Cruz Garcerá, Alberto Fonte, Coral Ortiz and Antonio Torregrosa
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Patricia Chueca: Centro de Agroingeniería, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), CV-315, km 10.7, 46113 Moncada (Valencia), Spain
Guillermo Mateu: Centro de Agroingeniería, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), CV-315, km 10.7, 46113 Moncada (Valencia), Spain
Cruz Garcerá: Centro de Agroingeniería, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), CV-315, km 10.7, 46113 Moncada (Valencia), Spain
Alberto Fonte: Centro de Agroingeniería, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), CV-315, km 10.7, 46113 Moncada (Valencia), Spain
Coral Ortiz: Departamento de Ingeniería Rural y Agroalimentaria, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Antonio Torregrosa: Departamento de Ingeniería Rural y Agroalimentaria, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Pruning is one of the most manpower-consuming agricultural operations in citrus production. Mechanical pruning can help to reduce pruning time and costs. In order to obtain the knowledge of its effects on the important orange variety “Navel Foyos”, several pruning strategies that include manual pruning and various intensities of mechanical pruning were tested for three years. The results showed that in “Navel Foyos” oranges, the mechanical pruning strategies did not affect the yield nor the size of the fruit in comparison with manual pruning. In conclusion, mechanical strategies are a potential alternative to manual pruning because they reduce the time necessary to prune and the pruning costs, thereby maintaining or even increasing the yield.

Keywords: citrus; mechanization; canopy management; fruit diameter (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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