Performance of ‘Tahiti’ lime on twelve rootstocks under irrigated and non-irrigated conditions
Highlights
► Invigorating rootstocks grown without irrigation induce high yield. ► Yield varies between irrigated and non-irrigated groves. ► Trifoliata ‘Flying Dragon’ is a suitable rootstock for high density ‘Tahiti’ lime.
Introduction
The citrus industry faces new challenges worldwide, including emergence of diseases, shortening of orchard life span, and larger social and environmental demands imposed by consumers. In Brazil, four varieties of sweet orange represent nearly 92% of the citrus plants in the State of São Paulo, and a single type of rootstock, the ‘Rangpur’ lime, accounts for 85% of the rootstocks used in citrus groves (Bové and Ayres, 2007). In this context, rootstock diversification, irrigation and high density planting practices become relevant.
On the other hand, production and international market of ‘Tahiti’ lime have significantly expanded in the recent years. In order to sustain this developing market, it is very important to create adequate conditions to extent ‘Tahiti’ lime harvest period, with rootstock diversification and irrigation. Over 85% of the citrus groves in Brazil are not irrigated. Experiments involving ‘Tahiti’ lime are scarce, but the partial results already allow to characterize some rootstocks (Stuchi et al., 2003, Stenzel and Neves, 2004).
Considering that there has been a growing interest in ‘Tahiti’ lime production driven by the need for higher crop yields and the possibility of producing fruit during the off-season period, at higher market prices, the objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of irrigated and non-irrigated ‘Tahiti’ lime trees budded on 12 rootstocks and on one interstock.
Section snippets
Field trial and plant material
Trees were planted in December of 2003 in the northern São Paulo State, Brazil (20°53′16″S latitude; 48°28′11″W longitude; 601 m altitude) on an 8.0 m × 5.0 m tree spacing, corresponding to a plant density of 250 trees ha−1. The soil was Haplustox with a medium texture (38% clay), and the climate was Köeppen's Cwa, with maximum and minimum temperatures of 30.5 °C and 16.8 °C, respectively, and an annual rainfall of 1534.7 mm. ‘IAC-5’ ‘Tahiti’ lime (Citrus latifolia (Yu. Tanaka) Tanaka) was grafted on the
Plant height and canopy volume
The rootstock clearly affected plant growth. In the non-irrigated experiment, the more vigorous plants reached approximately 3.6 m in height and had 33 m3 of canopy volume, while in the irrigated experiment, the more vigorous plants were 4.0 m in height and had 45 m3 of canopy volume six years after planting. In both experiments, the rootstock that produced the most vigorous ‘Tahiti’ lime plants were Catania 2 ‘Volkamer’ lemon, ‘Orlando’ tangelo, ‘Morton’ citrange and ‘Swingle’ citrumelo (Table 1).
Discussion
The low vigor and high yield efficiency traits of plants budded on ‘Flying Dragon’ trifoliate suggest that this rootstock is suitable for high density plantations (Stuchi et al., 2003, Cantuarias-Avilés et al., 2010). Plants on ‘Flying Dragon’ trifoliate occupied an area of 5.78 m × 2.79 m in the irrigated experiment and an area of 5.05 m × 2.17 m in the non-irrigated trial, as calculated from plant diameter measured after 6 years from planting, assuming 15% of tree overlapping along the row (De Negri
Conclusions
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‘Flying Dragon’ trifoliate is a suitable rootstock for irrigated high density ‘Tahiti’ lime groves.
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The effect of rootstock on plant size and fruit yield can vary according to use of interstock. The ‘Flying Dragon’ trifoliate used as interstock increases the yield of ‘Tahiti’ lime grafted onto ‘Davis A’ trifoliate and ‘Swingle’ citrumelo, but reduces the yield of plants budded on ‘Morton’ citrange.
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Invigorating rootstocks grown without irrigation have high yields, with the ‘1646’ citradia and the
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) for the Ph.D. student fellowship to the first author (Proc. 07/00286-0) and grant support to this research. The authors also acknowledge Mr. Luiz Gustavo Parolin and Mr. Dimas Alves Toledo for technical support, and Dr. Jay L. Schell for critical comments.
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The horticultural performance of five 'Tahiti' lime selections grafted onto 'Swingle' citrumelo under irrigated and non-irrigated conditions
2013, Scientia HorticulturaeCitation Excerpt :In addition, the use of production technology, particularly irrigation, has produced favorable results, increasing the fruit yield during both the crop season and the off-season (Espinoza-Núñez et al., 2011). Recent studies have evaluated the rootstocks and irrigation regimes used in ‘Tahiti’ lime production (Figueiredo et al., 2000, 2002; Stuchi et al., 2003, 2009; Angelocci et al., 2004; Castle et al., 2004; Stenzel and Neves, 2004; Silva et al., 2005; Alves Júnior et al., 2007, 2011; Berdeja-Arbeu et al., 2010; Espinoza-Núñez et al., 2011). In contrast, because of limitations related to the triploidy of ‘Tahiti’ lime, which hinders the use of conventional improvement techniques, few studies have evaluated the scions of this cultivar (Hodgson, 1967; Jackson et al., 1972; Agustí, 2003).
Rootstocks for high fruit yield and quality of 'Tahiti' lime under rain-fed conditions
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