Articles
SWEET CHERRY ORCHARD MANAGEMENT: FROM SHIFTING PARADIGMS TO COMPUTER MODELING
Article number
795_94
Pages
597 – 604
Language
English
Abstract
Sweet cherry orchard management has evolved during the last 25 years from 1) minimal inputs and very large trees to 2) extensive efforts to contain excessive vigor and promote earlier, heavier cropping to 3) intensive efforts to promote more vigor and to reduce cropping levels on dwarfing rootstocks.
Increasingly, technologies that add to or preserve high crop values, such as orchard covers and organic production practices, also are being adopted.
The past decade has seen significant shifts in many orchard management paradigms.
These are being driven by practical orchard experiences with new precocious, vigor-controlling rootstocks and elegant studies of sweet cherry growth and cropping physiology, as well as dramatically improved varieties and competition for high value markets in a global economy.
In essence, as orchard densities have increased, tree stature and/or canopy complexity has become more simplified, leading to a greater potential to micro-manage sweet cherry cropping and fruit quality.
An outgrowth of this has been the development of an interactive computer model of sweet cherry growth and cropping, VCHERRY (Virtual Cherry Tree), to simulate and predict tree, yield and quality responses to orchard management decisions.
The model begins with a nursery tree, adding seasonal development of new and existing shoots, spur and non-spur leaves, and ultimately flowers and fruit, based on sweet cherry phyllotaxy and meristem determination.
VCHERRY is quantitative, with the capacity to predict leaf area, light interception, yield and fruit quality.
The model also uses computer animation to illustrate progressive canopy and crop development under different input parameters, such as rootstock genotype and pruning strategies, providing estimates of immediate and probable long-term impacts of annual orchard management decisions.
Increasingly, technologies that add to or preserve high crop values, such as orchard covers and organic production practices, also are being adopted.
The past decade has seen significant shifts in many orchard management paradigms.
These are being driven by practical orchard experiences with new precocious, vigor-controlling rootstocks and elegant studies of sweet cherry growth and cropping physiology, as well as dramatically improved varieties and competition for high value markets in a global economy.
In essence, as orchard densities have increased, tree stature and/or canopy complexity has become more simplified, leading to a greater potential to micro-manage sweet cherry cropping and fruit quality.
An outgrowth of this has been the development of an interactive computer model of sweet cherry growth and cropping, VCHERRY (Virtual Cherry Tree), to simulate and predict tree, yield and quality responses to orchard management decisions.
The model begins with a nursery tree, adding seasonal development of new and existing shoots, spur and non-spur leaves, and ultimately flowers and fruit, based on sweet cherry phyllotaxy and meristem determination.
VCHERRY is quantitative, with the capacity to predict leaf area, light interception, yield and fruit quality.
The model also uses computer animation to illustrate progressive canopy and crop development under different input parameters, such as rootstock genotype and pruning strategies, providing estimates of immediate and probable long-term impacts of annual orchard management decisions.
Publication
Authors
G.A. Lang
Keywords
Prunus avium, dwarfing rootstocks, canopy growth and development, crop load, fruit quality, decision support systems
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