Performance of 'Gala Select' and 'Fuji Suprema' grafted on Geneva series rootstocks under fallow land and replanting conditions in southern Brazil

Abstract

Background: Rootstocks less vigorous are among the most crucial management techniques to modernize fruit cultivation. Replanting with fallow land has become necessary due to a lack of land to establish new orchards.

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the effect of various rootstocks of the American Geneva® series on the yield performance of the apple (Malus domestica Borkh) cultivars 'Gala Select' and 'Fuji Suprema' under replanting conditions in southern Brazil. Methods: After two years of fallow land, the experiments were initiated in 2017 and conducted during the 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 growing seasons in Painel and Caxias do Sul municipalities at the Santa Catarina and the Rio Grande do Sul State, respectively. The 'Gala Select' and 'Fuji Suprema' were grafted onto the G.202, G.814, G.210, and G.213 Geneva series rootstocks in a tall spindle training system using a randomized complete block design with four replicates. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to assess the interrelationship among the variable's vigor, productivity, and fruit quality.

Results: The PCA result showed significant differences in vigor, productivity, and fruit quality when the G.210 and G.213 and G.814 and G.213 Geneva series rootstocks were used in combination with Gala Select and Fuji Suprema cultivars, respectively. The PCA analysis clustered all cultivar/rootstock combinations into two groups, based on their vigor and productivity and the yield performance and fruit quality data, that differed significantly among combinations and regions. The 'Gala Select'/G.202 and 'Fuji Suprema'/G.213 combinations were less vigorous than the 'Gala Select'/G.210 and 'Fuji Suprema'/G.814 combinations. However, 'Gala Select'/G.210 (semi-dwarfing) and G.213 (dwarfing) are the combinations with high yield performance, productive efficiency and fruit quality, being more reliable to the producer, and less vigorous, resulting in lower labor costs under replating conditions, with two years of fallow land, from 2018 until 2021 growing seasons.

Keywords: Fruit production and quality; Malus domestica Borkh.; Productive efficiency; Vigor control; Yield.

Fig. 1

Average monthly accumulated rainfall (mm), maximum, average and minimum temperature (°C) at Painel/SC (A) and Caxias do Sul/RS (B) and Annual accumulated chilling hours ≤7,2 °C (C) municipality, southern Brazil, from October 2017 to December 2020, across the three growing seasons.

Fig. 2

Yield and productive efficiency of ‘Gala Select’ (A) and ‘Fuji Suprema’ (B) grafted on a series Geneva® rootstocks, under replanting area at Painel/SC municipality, southern Brazil.

Fig. 3

Vigor-productive efficiency relationship of Gala Select (A) and Fuji Suprema (B) cultivars grafted on a series of Geneva® rootstocks, under replanting area at Painel municipality, southern Brazil. According to ‘Gala Select’, the first component separated the rootstocks based on their vigor, while the second component separated them based on the yield performance that they provided to canopy cultivar. According to ‘Fuji Suprema’, the first principal component variables that represent the vigor were inversely proportional to the productive efficiency and proportional to the yield performance.

Fig. 4

Fruit quality analysis of the cultivar Gala Select (A) and Fuji Suprema (B) grafted on a series of Geneva® rootstocks, under replanting area at Painel municipality, southern Brazil. According to ‘Gala Select’, the first main component separated the rootstocks mainly by fruits caliber and firmness. Medium caliber and firmness were inversely proportional to smaller and larger calibers. The second main component differentiated the fruit quality mainly by the fruits category. According to ‘Fuji Suprema’, the first main component correlated the CAT1 category with the largest and smallest fruit caliber, and the second main component differentiated the rootstocks mainly by fruits firmness.

Fig. 5

Yield and productive efficiency of the ‘Gala Select’ (A) and ‘Fuji Suprema’ (B) grafted on a series of Geneva® rootstocks, under replanting area in Caxias do Sul municipality, southern Brazil.

Fig. 6

Vigor-productive efficiency relationship of the ‘Gala Select’ (A) and ‘Fuji Suprema’ (B) on the Geneva® series rootstocks, under replanting area in Caxias do Sul municipality, southern Brazil. For both Gala Select and Fuji Suprema, the first component separated the rootstocks based on their vigor, inversely proportional to productive efficiency, while the second component separated them based on the yield performance that they provided to the canopy cultivars.

Fig. 7

Fruit quality analysis of the ‘Gala Select’ (A) and ‘Fuji Suprema’ (B) grafted on a series of Geneva® rootstocks, under replanting area in Caxias do Sul municipality, southern Brazil. According to ‘Gala Select’, the first main component separated the rootstocks mainly by the fruits caliber that were inversely proportional to fruits firmness and category. The second main component differentiated the rootstocks mainly by the fruits medium caliber that were inversely proportional to the fruits smaller caliber. According to ‘Fuji Suprema’, the first main component differentiated the rootstocks mainly by the fruits firmness that were correlated with fruits larger calibers that were inversely proportional of fruits average calibers and soluble solids content. The second main component differentiated the rootstocks mainly by fruits category.

Fig. 8

Correlation of vigor-productive efficiency variables of the ‘Gala Select’ (A) and ‘Fuji Suprema’ (B), and Fruit quality variables of the ‘Gala Select’ (A) and ‘Fuji Suprema’ (B) grafted on a series of Geneva® rootstocks, under replanting area in Painel municipality, southern Brazil.

Fig. 9

Correlation of vigor-productive efficiency variables of the ‘Gala Select’ (A) and ‘Fuji Suprema’ (B), and Fruit quality variables of the ‘Gala Select’ (A) and ‘Fuji Suprema’ (B) grafted on a series of Geneva® rootstocks, under replanting area in Caxias do Sul municipality, southern Brazil.