Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of boron foliar application, branch girdling and plant growth regulators on the performance of pear trees cv. Garber. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design with three replications. Treatments consisted of different boron rates (220, 440, 660 and 880 mL 100 L-1), branch girdling, and the plant growth regulators Promalin® (benzyladenine + gibberellins AG4+7) (560 mL 100 L-1) and Biozyme * TF (200 mL 100 L-1). The percentage of fruit set, stem length, fruit length, fruit diameter, flesh firmness, soluble solids and yield were assessed. The greatest fruit set was observed with Promalin® in both years and also boron and Biozyme * TF in the second year. The use of Promalin® increased peduncle length, fruit height but negatively affected soluble solids. Yield was also increased by this plant growth regulator and boron. Concluding, Promalin® improves fruit set, yield, and fruit quality and boron positively influence yield.
Highlights
The production of fruit crops worldwide in 2012 was 636 millions of tons, where pears represented 3.7% of this amount
In the first season Promalin® increased fruit set relative to the other treatments, not differing of the treatments Boron 440 and 880 mL 100 L-1. This effect was probably because of the gibberellins present in Promalin® formulation, which usually induce greater fruit set even when pollination is deficient, while boron seems to have greater effect when used in greater concentrations
Similar results were observed in the 2005/06 growing season, and the inclusion of Biozyme*TF did not differ of Promalin® (Figure 1a), indicating the effectiveness of these two substances to increase pear fruit set
Summary
The production of fruit crops worldwide in 2012 was 636 millions of tons, where pears represented 3.7% of this amount. According to Fioravanço (2007), the lack adaptation of the main high quality pear varities to the conditions of Southern Brazil, mainly regarding the requirement of chilling hours (h ≤ a 7,2 °C), requires the use of chemical substances to induce better budbreak and flowering These authors say the climatic requirements, partially fulfilled in the main potential regions, is one of the main limiting factors for growing pears, because it difficults the use of high quality cultivars, besides favoring the production of low quality fruits. In the climatic conditions of this region, the lack of coincidence of blossom among the cultivars is common, resulting in low fruit set and yield In such conditions, the fruit set of pears may be improved by the use of plant growth regulators (Hawerroth et al 2011). Plant growth regulators could be sprayed either alone or in combination
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