S16 - Session P2 - Influence of different pruning solutions in kernel production of a super high density almond orchard

Authors: Antonio Fernando Bento Dias *, José Falcão, José Reis, Jorge Rebola, Anacleto Pinheiro

The s uccess of the super high density (SHD) system on olive production has been extended to almond orchards, where it is necessary to ensure adequate canopy dimensions for over-the-row harvesting machines. In an almond orchard from Soleta cultivar planted in September 2014 at Herdade da Torre das Figueiras in Monforte, Portalegre, Portugal (39º 04' N, 07º 29'W), a trial to evaluate different pruning solutions was established. Four treatments (T0, T1, T2, T3) were compared: T0 (farmer pruning) - summer pruning (mechanical pruning in 2015, 2018 and 2019 and manual pruning in 2016), post-harvest pruning (mechanical pruning in 2017) and winter pruning (manual pruning in 2016 and 2018 and mechanical pruning followed by manual pruning in 2017); T1- no pruning interventions in 2015, 2016 or 2017 and manual pruning in 2018 and 2019; T2 - involving summer pruning (mechanical pruning in 2015) and post-harvest pruning (mechanical pruning in 2017, 2018 and 2019), and T3 - summer pruning (mechanical pruning in 2015, 2018 and 2019) and post-harvest pruning (mechanical pruning in 2017).In 2018, manual winter pruning was carried out in all the treatments.Significant differences were registered in kernel almond yield between years (2017-2019). In 2018, there were significant differences between treatments, with T0 recording a significantly lower almond kernel production than those obtained by T1 and T2. However, in the average of 3 years, there were no significant differences between treatments.