HORTICULTURAL PRACTICES OF PEACH IN VENEZUELA

There are around 1,459 ha of peach in Venezuela with a production of approximately 22,607 TM yielding 16.3 TM. Ha^-1 per year. ‘La Colonia Tovar’ and ‘El Jarillo’ are the main production zones from Aragua and Miranda States, respectively.
It is worth saying that in the tropics there is not enough cold for either induce plant to rest or break dormancy.
In this regard it is necessary to use forced production, e.g., cultivars with low cold requirements, defoliation and sprout promotion using chemicals.
In order to identify the horticultural practices of this crop, 15 orchards were visited from 2006 to 2009 and the practices of the production, harvest and post harvest phases were observed.
We can conclude that the horticultural practices of peach crop in Venezuela are deficient and it is characterized by the cultivation of the cultivars ‘Jarillazo’ and ‘Amarillo’, and the use of ‘Amarillo’ as the unique rootstock.
In general plants grow freely and they are just pruned during the first three years.
There are orchards without irrigation; the control of pests and diseases is carried out mainly using chemicals.
The defoliation is done using sodium chlorate (0.5-1.0%). The sprout promoter is the cyanamid hydrogen (0.5-1.0 L 200 L^-1). Thinning is not a common practice.
Mineral nutrition is carried out empirically as the soil and tissues simples are eventually taken.
The harvest index is the color change of the fruit (peel). There are not standardized procedures for selection, grading and trading which led to poor postharvest practices.

VII International Peach Symposium

J. Aular, Y. Rodríguez

Prunus persica L., yield, tropics

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2012.962.52