Yield and Production Efficiency of Four Apple Cultivars in Selected Orchard Management Systems

Abstract

Abstract Trees of ‘Golden Delicious’, ‘Topred Delicious’, ‘Millersturdeespur Delicious’, and ‘Sundale Golden Delicious’ apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) were grown in two or more of the following orchard management systems established in 1973: slender spindle (SS), 2151 trees/ha, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Sundale Golden Delicious’; trellis (TR), 1121 trees/ha, all cultivars; interstem hedgerow (IH), 795 trees/ha, all cultivars; and pyramid hedgerow (PH), 425 trees/ha, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Topred Delicious’. Yields of ‘Golden Delicious’ in the SS and TR were similar during the first 7 years and these systems generally produced higher yields than the less-intensive systems (IH and PH) during this period. Except for a drop in yield in the TR system in year 10, ‘Golden Delicious’ trees ≥8 years old in all systems produced >50 t·ha−1. ‘Topred’ in the TR system outyielded IH and PH every year, while IH had higher yields than PH in three out of the eight cropping years. The spur-type cultivars Sundale and Millersturdeespur had lower yields per hectare than the standard-habit cultivars because they were spaced too widely. Yields of the systems with ‘Sundale’ generally followed plant density, with the SS being highest, IH lowest, and TR in between and often not significantly different from the other two systems. Orchard management systems had no consistent effects on fruit size. The cumulative yield per hectare of ‘Golden Delicious’ over 11 years grown as SS outproduced the IH and PH systems, with the TR yields intermediate. ‘Sundale’ managed as SS outproduced both the TR and IH systems. ‘Topred’ in the TR had higher cumulative yields per hectare than the PH system. An economic comparison of the ‘Golden Delicious’ systems indicated that PH provided the highest rate of return and the SS the lowest, with the IH and TR systems intermediate.