CLIMATOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS OF ALMOND

Studies on the relationships between the yield of Almond and the climatological conditions of four provinces of Italy (Bari, Agrigento, Cagliari and Lecce) were done, considering, practically, the same period (1951–1968) and the same statistical method of analysis.
The aim of the work was to compare their results for a further research on the "climate" of Almond.
The method, used for the first time by Baltadori (1957), consists in the calculation of the linear correlation coefficients (simple and partial) considering periods of the year based on the combinations of decades (10, 11, 8 or 9 days) or of pentads (5 days): 1st, 2nd and 3rd of January; 2nd, 3rd of January and 1st of February, and so on; or, considering 73 pentads for one year, 1–2–3, 2–3–4, 3–4–5, and so on.
As the flower buds are differentiated and formed during the previous year of fruit production, the calculations of the correlation coefficients start from the first decades or the first pentads of the previous year, considering the mean values of maximum (X₁) and minimum (X₂) temperatures and the total of precipitations (X₃) for combinations of 1, 2 and 3 decades or 3 pentads.
From the first combination and the consecutive ones (till the last year of fruit production), the differences of the meteorological values are only those of one consecutive decade or one consecutive pentad (minus the first one of the previous combination), while the values of the yield (y) are always the same; a continuous series of correlation coefficients is so obtained for the whole vegetative cycle of the plant.

The values of the correlation coefficients, positive or negative, change from the beginning of the previous year and the significative ones show the effect, for deficiency or excess, of the values of the meteorological factor, during the most "sensible" or "critical" vegetative periods, which occur quite in the same time for all the meteorological stations considered.
Having values of the yield for more limited areas and meteorological values registered inside the orchard, by homogeneous stations, it is possible to obtain the determination of the real limits of the meteorological values which will allow the calculation of the statistical probability of manifestation of deficient or excessive values for a better choice of the most suitable cultivars for a given locality.

I International Congress on Almond

A. Jacoboni, I. Pinnola

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1994.373.24