Articles
YIELD POTENTIAL ANALYSIS TO MODEL DORMANCY REQUIREMENTS IN PISTACHIO
Article number
1028_16
Pages
103 – 106
Language
English
Abstract
Chilling requirements will affect how yield of temperate perennial crops responds to climate change, yet they remain difficult to quantify.
Researchers have attempted to quantify the chilling requirement of pistachio (Pistacia vera) by forcing or modeling bud break.
Both approaches assume that the timing or percentage of bud break is predictive of yield.
However, given the low number of flowers that result in harvested nuts even in a high chill year, bud break requirements may be very different from the amount of chill necessary for sustainable yields.
We approached the question of chilling requirements by analyzing historic chill and county yield records in Californias Central Valley.
Preliminary results showed that in pistachio, above average yields were achieved with as little as 58 chill portions, at least 30% less than the bud break-derived chilling requirement estimation.
These initial results indicate that processes beyond bud break may need to be considered in estimating chilling requirements and that failure to do so may cause researchers to overstate the potential impacts of climate change on temperate tree crops such as pistachio.
Researchers have attempted to quantify the chilling requirement of pistachio (Pistacia vera) by forcing or modeling bud break.
Both approaches assume that the timing or percentage of bud break is predictive of yield.
However, given the low number of flowers that result in harvested nuts even in a high chill year, bud break requirements may be very different from the amount of chill necessary for sustainable yields.
We approached the question of chilling requirements by analyzing historic chill and county yield records in Californias Central Valley.
Preliminary results showed that in pistachio, above average yields were achieved with as little as 58 chill portions, at least 30% less than the bud break-derived chilling requirement estimation.
These initial results indicate that processes beyond bud break may need to be considered in estimating chilling requirements and that failure to do so may cause researchers to overstate the potential impacts of climate change on temperate tree crops such as pistachio.
Authors
K.S. Pope, P.H. Brown, V. Dose, D. Da Silva, T.M. DeJong
Keywords
dormancy, chilling requirement, Pistacia vera, yield, climate change
Online Articles (66)