Abstract

GRIJALVA CONTRERAS, Raúl Leonel; MACIAS DUARTE, Rubén  and  ROBLES CONTRERAS, Fabián. Productivity in apricot fruit tree in the northwest of Mexico. Agric. Téc. Méx [online]. 2006, vol.32, n.1, pp.17-25. ISSN 0568-2517.

In Mexico the production of apricot (Prunus armeniacae) is extremely low. During 2002 the harvested area was 410 ha with a production of 1 900 t, contrasting with the demand that exists in the national market and open possibilities for exportation. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the adaptation of different selections of apricot of low chilling requirement and to select those of high yield potential and fruit quality, and to determine the effect of hydrogen cyanamide application on budbreak, fruit maturation and yield. The experiment was carried out at the Experimental Station Region of Caborca, of the National Research Institute for Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock (INIFAP), Mexico during 1990 to 2002. The experiment consisted of the evaluation of 18 apricot lines of low-chilling requirement developed at the University of Florida, USA. The trees were planted in March 1990 at a distance of 5x5 m. The rootstock used was the peach cv. Nemaguard. Also, during 2001 and 2002 three concentrations of hydrogen cyanamide: 0.0, 0.75 y 1.5% were tested. The lines with high yield during six years of evaluation (1997-2002) were: 7-23, 16-1,1-81, 11-2, 15-1 and #3 with an average yield of 24.6, 22.7, 21.7, 16.3, 15.0 and 14.8 t ha^-1, respectively. The cultivar 'Canino' (commercially grown cv. in the northwest of Mexico) produced 14.2 t ha^-1. In addition to excellent yield, these lines possessed good fruit quality and appropriate fruit maturation time and did not exhibit any serious disease problems. The application of hydrogen cyanamide improved budbreak and yield and also accelerated the maturation time between 4 and 5 days. These findings could contribute to widen the fruit market window.

Keywords : Prunus armeniacae; adaptation; fruit quality; maturation time; yield.

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