Productivity and labor saving effect of Japanese pear in ‘Joint V-shaped trellis’

In Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) production, a unique cultivation system by using flat trellis has been established in order to protect from climate disaster such as tropical storm and to maintain stable production.
In this flat trellis cultivation, fruit production with high quality is realized by even sunlight interception and intensive management.
But there are several disadvantages such as high initial cost of flat trellis, needs of highly trained technique and a lot of labor for pruning, etc.
On the other hand, tree joint training system is now spreading in the fruit tree production areas as effective replanting technology, because it enables earlier establishment of orchard and labor saving management.
For future, to cope with expanding orchard scale stability of management is necessary.
We have invented and studied a new system called ‘Joint V-shaped trellis (JV)’ which is focused on earlier establishment of orchard, higher productivity and labor saving than flat trellis tree joint training system.
In this study, we examined the effect of change of the angle of lateral branches from conventional flat position of flat joint training system into Joint V-shaped slanting angle on yield, fruit quality, and tree growth.
In conclusion, productivity of joint V-shaped trellis is higher than conventional flat trellis training system.
Cumulative yield throughout seven years after planting of two-year-old seedlings of ‘Kosui’ was 115 t ha^‑1, whereas the yield of the conventional four scaffolds system was 50 t ha^‑1 indicating the early establishment of orchard of JV. In comparison with the similar training system of ‘Tatura trellis’, difference of soluble solid content between upper and lower part of the canopy in JV was smaller.
As for the labor saving effect, labor time of JV throughout one year was 1858 h ha^‑1, whereas labor time of conventional flat trellis was 3006 h ha^‑1, showing time saving by 38.2%.

IV Asian Horticultural Congress – AHC2023

T. Seki, K. Katayama, T. Soneda, K. Shibata

Pyrus pyrifolia, Y-shaped trellis, planting density, crop load, yield

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2024.1404.7