Abstract
The aim of this work was to study the effect of removing the spring flush (scozzolatura practice) and phosphor-nitrogenous fertilization on the refloring and late ripening of cactus pear Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. To meet this objective, trials were carried out on an adult plantation of cactus pear ‘Aissa’ in Agadir area during the 2018 season. The scozzolatura practice consisted of removing the whole spring flush of flowers and cladodes during full blooming (50% flowers in bloom). The fertilization doses provided are: 0-0, 120-18 and 195-33 kg N-P2O5 ha-1. The soil of the site of trials contains a reserve of 30-12 kg N-P2O5 ha-1 and the treatments of fertilization studied are: (T0: control without supply) 30-12 kg N- P2O5 ha-1, (T1) 150-30 kg N-P2O5 ha-1 and (T2) 225-45 kg N-P2O5 ha-1. Obtained results showed that the scozzolatura practice delayed the reflowering for 44 days compared to the spring flowering and the late fruiting for 54 days compared to seasonal fruiting. However, phosphor-nitrogenous fertilization does not affect significantly (p ˃ 0.05) the reflowering and late ripening of cactus pear. Appliying T2 treatment of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization after the scozzolatura practice improved the number of flowers (194) and cladodes (160) emitted per plant.
Published Version
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