Abstract
Climate change is leading to higher plant water requirements and rootstock can play a role in tree adaptation, since the more vigorous ones are also likely to be more stress resistant. Pear trees of the cv. Abbé Fetél grafted on BA29 (more vigorous) and SYDO (more dwarfing) quince were irrigated according to three different treatments: 110 C, 80 DI and 60 DI, corresponding to 110%, 80% and 60% of the crop evapotranspiration rate (ETc), respectively. Shoot and fruit growth, water potentials, leaf gas exchanges and dry matter content were monitored during the season. Fruit quality was evaluated at harvest and after 6 months of storage at 1 °C. Results show how for both rootstocks, 60 DI significantly decreased their stem (Ψstem) and leaf (Ψleaf) water potentials as well as leaf gas exchanges. In SYDO, final fruit size was affected by irrigation, with lower values on 60 DI, but in BA29, no differences were found between treatments. After storage, BA29 60 DI fruit showed a higher soluble solid content, while in SYDO fruit, firmness was more affected by irrigation level. In conclusion, despite a slight decrease in fruit size, reduced irrigation led to fruit with higher quality features that were also maintained after a long period of storage.
Highlights
Pear (Pyrus communis L.) is one of the major horticultural crops cultivated worldwide.Thanks to its potential long-term storage, fruit from cv
Abbé Fetél grafted on BA29 and SYDO quince were irrigated according to three different treatments: 110% of ETc (110 C), 80 DI and 60 DI, corresponding to 110%, 80% and 60% of the crop evapotranspiration rate (ETc), respectively
In BA29, no differences among irrigation treatments were recorded during the whole season, except at harvest, when 60 DI showed a statistically significant reduction (p < 0.05) compared to 110 C and 80 DI, with a mean value of −1.86 MPa (Figure 1a)
Summary
Pear (Pyrus communis L.) is one of the major horticultural crops cultivated worldwide.Thanks to its potential long-term storage, fruit from cv. The practice of applying a lower irrigation volume than the one evapotranspired by the plant is referred to as regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and represents one of the promising adaptative strategies to increase water use efficiency in orchards [6] while reducing tree vegetative growth [7] This reduced water supply showed no significant reductions in yield across many different crops [8]. Water inputs are stopped after fruit harvest, since this practice does not seem to influence next-year fruit quality in ‘Conference’ pear [9], when an adequate stem water potential threshold is maintained In this crop, irrigation can be delayed until the beginning of the cell expansion stage, even though fruit cell division and enlargement could be negatively affected [10]. Pear fruit growth can be described by an expolinear model characterized by a first stage of cell division followed by a second stage of cell expansion [6]
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