PRODUCTIVIDAD DEL LIMÓN ‘PERSA’ INJERTADO EN CUATRO PORTAINJERTOS EN UNA HUERTA COMERCIAL DE VERACRUZ, MÉXICO

Abstract

There were 36,166.36 ha planted with ‘Tahiti’ lime (Citrus latifolia Tan.) in Veracruz, Mexico in 2010, which produced 437,460.80 tons of fruit valued at 88.07 million dollars. Because rootstocks influence vegetative growth, citrus fruit yield and quality, depending on the species of rootstock, soil type and climate where they are cultivated, we compared the agronomic performance of 11-year-old ‘Tahiti’ lime trees grafted onto Carrizo citrange, Swingle citrumelo and Volkamerian and Rough lemons, planted with 4 x 6 m spacing, in a thin, strongly acidic (pH 4.5) clay soil. Tree dimensions, yield, production efficiency and fruit quality of eight harvests, from June 2008 to July 2009, were recorded. The most important results were: Carrizo, Swingle and Volkamerian induced lower height and canopy volume than Rough lemon, but the canopy formation of ‘Tahiti’ lime was wider than high, with all of them, b) fruit yield per tree was higher with Rough, but its production efficiency equaled that obtained with Carrizo and Swingle, c) Carrizo, Rough and Swingle induced a higher volume of export- grade (United States) ‘Tahiti’ lime fruit, with no differences among them in terms of the commercial sizes of the fruit produced, and d) the agronomic performance of Carrizo and Swingle, in terms of vigor, tree size, production efficiency, fruit quality and tolerance to termites, offers greater advantages for growing ‘Tahiti’ lime in savanna soils.