Abstract
An increasing number of intensive, dense, and sustainable citrus plantations have fostered a growing interest in addressing the future challenges of citrus crops: An increase in the world’s population, climate change, and globalization. Nutrient efficiency and the absence of vigorous citrus rootstocks are required for the success of these plantation systems. The agronomic performances of the ‘Lane Late’ orange cultivar on three substandard or semi-dwarfing citrus rootstocks (Forner-Alcaide no.5 (FA5), Forner-Alcaide no.13 (FA13), and Forner-Alcaide no.41 (FA41)) were evaluated in Spain in comparison with more traditional Mediterranean citrus rootstocks (Carrizo citrange (CA), Citrus macrophylla (MP), and ‘Cleopatra’ mandarin (CL)) under a poor mineral fertilization program over six growing seasons. FA13 and FA41 induced the smallest ‘Lane Late’ trees. Although the rootstock did not induce a significant effect on the ‘Lane Late’ yield efficiency (kg m−3), the highest values were recorded for ‘Lane Late’ on MP, CL and FA13. In this sense, FA13 showed a high productive potential (kg ha−1), given the possibility of narrowing the tree spacing (smaller tree size). Regarding the use of soil nutrients, FA13 was the most efficient citrus rootstock. Thus, FA13 stands out as the most suitable citrus rootstock for more intensive and sustainable plantation systems of the ‘Lane Late’ orange under Mediterranean conditions similar to those of this study.
Highlights
The future viability of citrus crops of the main citrus growing countries of the Mediterranean basin is seriously threatened by the increase in the world’s population, climate change, and globalization [1].Citrus fruit cultures, like agriculture in general, face the challenge of becoming more productive to feed a much larger global population under a general landscape of climate change, which threatens to increase temperature, reduce water availability, and impact soil health and quality.On the other hand, globalization compromises the profitability of many Mediterranean citrus farms, mainly on account of competition from third countries and the onset of exogenous pest and crop diseases in terms of yield losses and higher costs involved in their inspection and control [2,3,4]
Many studies have reported the effect of citrus rootstocks on tree growth [11,32,33,34]
In our results obtained on a twelve-years-old ‘Lane Late’ navel orange plantation, containing adult trees with a definitive tree size or close to it, statistical differences (p < 0.05)
Summary
The future viability of citrus crops of the main citrus growing countries of the Mediterranean basin is seriously threatened by the increase in the world’s population, climate change, and globalization [1].Citrus fruit cultures, like agriculture in general, face the challenge of becoming more productive to feed a much larger global population under a general landscape of climate change, which threatens to increase temperature, reduce water availability, and impact soil health and quality.On the other hand, globalization compromises the profitability of many Mediterranean citrus farms, mainly on account of competition from third countries and the onset of exogenous pest and crop diseases in terms of yield losses and higher costs involved in their inspection and control [2,3,4]. The future viability of citrus crops of the main citrus growing countries of the Mediterranean basin is seriously threatened by the increase in the world’s population, climate change, and globalization [1]. Like agriculture in general, face the challenge of becoming more productive to feed a much larger global population under a general landscape of climate change, which threatens to increase temperature, reduce water availability, and impact soil health and quality. Mediterranean citrus crops, highly dependent on manpower, are facing an uncertain and complex scenario regarding Covid-19, which could lead to a foreign labor shortage. Because of this reality, it is of the highest priority to increase the citrus crop productivity from sustainable intensification. More intensive and higher-density citrus and other crop plantation systems are an interesting strategy to allow an improvement in competitiveness—
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