Use Of Micronized Calcium Carbonate-Based Sunscreen on Young European Hazelnut (Corylus Avellana L.) in Commercial Nursery Under Environmental Stress Conditions During the Summer Period

Abstract

Chile has become one of the main exporters of European hazelnuts in the world, mainly due to favorable edaphoclimatic conditions. Currently, due to the negative effects of climate change, ​​Chile has been suffering recurrent heat waves and droughts, which are damaging the productive efficiency of the European hazelnut. The present research proposes to evaluate the use of a sunscreen composed of micronized calcium carbonate, pinolene and lignosulfonate on young European hazelnut plants growing in a commercial nursery. In this study, the environmental conditions of heat stress observed during the summer months were evaluated. The results show statistically significant differences between treatments, in favor of plants treated with the sunscreen in at least one of the three months of evaluation. Thus, stomatal conductance (gs) showed increases of up to 29% compared to the control treatment, transpiration rate (Tr) increased by up to 25% and the net assimilation rate (an) increased by up to 18% compared to the control treatment without application. The use of sunscreen would increase the gas exchange of young European hazelnut plants, thus providing greater tolerance to conditions of high environmental temperature, promoting an increase in the production of photo-assimilates compared to untreated plants.