Importance of crop load management in apple: An overview

Abstract

To meet market demand and attain profitable fruit production, apple growers must produce fruits of good quality while retaining the highest possible yields. The conflicting nature of these two goals requires accurate management of tree crop load. Excessively low crop loads will lead to reduced productivity, despite a larger fruit size; while, with too many fruits, the yield per tree and per hectare will be reduced. In addition, excessive crop loads can result in alternate bearing in many apple cultivars. Successful fruit production is achieved by maintaining optimum crop load. Crop load management, therefore, is one of most important orchard management techniques used to improve crop yield and quality in apple.