Two Reproductive Bud Thinning Alternatives for Cactus Pear

Abstract

Cactus pear (Opuntia spp.) is an important Mexican fruit crop cultivated extensively (about 51,000 ha) in the semiarid highlands of Mexico. Fruit exports have increased in the last decade, but to fulfill these markets, fruit size must be enhanced. However, current hand thinning reduces yield, thus making it uneconomical for growers. The objective was to evaluate two reproductive bud (RB) thinning protocols in an effort to increase export fruit size without depressing cactus pear yield. Two experiments were conducted during the 2004 growing season with two cactus pear types: Cristalina (Opuntia albicarpa) and Rojo liso (Opuntia ficus-indica). In the first experiment, the treatments were no thinning (control) or keeping 4, 8, or 12 RBs per cladode. In the second experiment, the treatments were no thinning (control), thinning every other bud along the cladode, and thinning two of every three buds along the cladode. In the first experiment, yield of Cristalina was reduced by 10.4% and 51.8% when eight or four RBs per cladode were retained, respectively. Mean fruit weight of Cristalina decreased with the most severe thinning treatment. Yield of Rojo liso was reduced when four RBs were retained per cladode. In the second experiment, yield of both cactus pear types was unaffected by the thinning treatments. Therefore, we recommend thinning every other bud along the cladode because it does not reduce yield and tends to improve marketable fruit in both cactus pear types. However, this thinning alternative should be tested in other commercial cactus pear types if growers are interested in export markets.