Abstract
In recent years, new chemical thinners have been introduced in the European market and researchers have tested them on apples and European pears. In Portugal, grower groups and academia jointly organized the thinning trials. Reported here are the results of two years' research (2015 and 2016) carried out in a commercial orchard of 'Rocha' pear planted in 2010. The following active ingredients: 6-benzyladenine (6-BA), naphthalene-acetic-acid (NAA) + 6-benzyladenine (6-BA), abscisic acid (ABA), and metamitron (MT) were tested at different concentrations and time of application. All the tested chemical thinners reduced fruit load, although the efficacy of some of them (NAA and 6-BA) was affected by the climatic conditions. ABA and Metamitron, the two newest chemical thinners introduced in Portugal, performed well and positively affected some fruit quality parameters.
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