DEVELOPMENT IN FRUIT TREES PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

Abstract

The development during the last decades in fruit tree orchard systems resulted in the dominance “pedestrian orchard concept” for fruit species produced for fresh market. Trees trained to different conic shaped canopies (central leader, slender spindle, vertical axis, SolAxe, super spindle) and planted in single row system can be harvested easily from ground. Besides pip fruits (apple and pear) training and pruning systems were developed for stone fruits (peach, plum, apricot and cherry), however the open centre canopies are still widespread applied for these species. Research focused to maximize light interception, optimizing spacing, fruiting wood formation and leaf distribution within the canopy contributed to refining the pedestrian orchard concept. For fruit species produced for processing industry, where the fruits are harvested mechanically, the limb and trunk shakers are applied on vase shaped trees or trained to modified central leader. As new trend the continuously moving harvesters occurred in North America and East-Europe, which requires different tree shape and training. The paper gives and overview on the above topics.