Response of Bosc and Cold Snap™ Pears to Thinning with NAA, 6-BA, ACC and S-ABA
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Canadian Journal of Plant Science Response of Bosc and Cold Snap™ pears to thinning with NAA, 6-BA, ACC and S-ABA Journal: Canadian Journal of Plant Science ManuscriptFor ID CJPS-2017-0258.R2 Review Only Manuscript Type: Article Date Submitted by the Author: 31-Oct-2017 Complete List of Authors: Cline, John; University of Guelph Ontario Agricultural College, Plant Agriculture Carter, Kathryn; Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Gunter, Amanda; University of Guelph, Plant Agriculture Bakker, Catherine; University of Guelph, Plant Agriculture Green, Amanda; Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs Keywords: Pyrus, chemical thinning, crop load management, plant bioregulators https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cjps-pubs Page 1 of 39 Canadian Journal of Plant Science Response of Bosc and Cold Snap™ pears to thinning with NAA, 6-BA, ACC and S-ABA. J.A. Cline1*, K. Carter2 A. Gunter3, C. Bakker3, and A.C. Green4 1 Associate Professor, Tree Fruit Physiology, Department of Plant Agriculture, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, 1283 Blueline Rd, Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5 Email: [email protected] 2Tender Fruit and Grape Production Specialist, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 4890 Victoria Ave N, Vineland Station, ON, L0R 2E0 3 Research Technician, Physiology, Department of Plant Agriculture, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, 1283 Blueline Rd, Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5 4Tree Fruit Specialist, ForOntario ReviewMinistry of Agriculture, Only Food and Rural Affairs, 1283 Blueline Rd, Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5 * Corresponding author Email:[email protected] ABSTRACT Adjusting the crop-load of European pears [Pyrus communis L.] by hand thinning is currently required to ensure marketable size of most cultivars grown in Ontario. The benefits of chemical thinning pears and their effect on fruit quality and fresh-market returns was investigated in a three-year study where a series of foliar chemical thinning sprays was applied during the 10-mm fruitlet stage to Bosc and Cold Snap™ pear trees growing in commercial orchards in the Niagara Peninsula, Ontario. Treatments included an untreated and hand-thinned control, and two concentrations each of 6-benzyladenine (6-BA; 75 mg L-1 and 150 mg L-1), naphthalene acetic acid (10 mg L-1 and 20 mg L-1), 1- aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid (150 mg L-1 and 300 mg L-1) and s-abscisic acid (s- ABA; 150 mg L-1 and 300 mg L-1). Overall, all thinning products reduced crop load at least once in the three-year study, although this varied by year and cultivar. Higher concentrations were more effective than lower concentrations. Napthalene aceditic acid (both rates), 150 mg L-1 6-BA and 300 mg L-1 s-ABA were most consistent. Since the crop load of control trees was not heavy, minimal hand thinning was required and all thinning treatments reduced crop value compared with the untreated trees. There were minimal effects on starch hydrolysis, soluble solids, fruit firmness and skin colour at harvest. https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cjps-pubs Canadian Journal of Plant Science Page 2 of 39 Abbreviations: 1-aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid (ACC), 6-benzyladenine (6-BA), days after full bloom (DAFB), naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), s-abscisic acid (s-ABA), trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA) Keywords: Pyrus, chemical thinning, crop load management, plant bioregulators INTRODUCTION Consumption of fruit, including pears, has been driven by trends toward healthier eating, improved availability ofFor a greater Review variety of fruit, Onlyand innovation by the fruit processing sector. In Canada, nearly all pears are consumed fresh, with a per capita consumption of approximately 2.2 kg/person annually (Statistics Canada 2015). While the demand for fresh pears has been relatively stable (Statistics Canada 2015), with increasing demand for local products, there is potential to expand the production of pears in Ontario, a sector which has seen a long-term declining trend due to decreasing profitability and the closing of the primary processing plant in 2008 (OMAFRA 2016). Currently, about 90% of domestic fresh pear consumption comes from imports (Statistics Canada 2016), and it is estimated that a 10% replacement of imports would result in a 3-fold increase in production area in Ontario from a current 250 ha (OMAFRA 2016). Bartlett and Bosc represent 95% of current pear production by area, however, these cultivars are prone to fireblight (E. Amylovora) and as a result growers are hesitant to plant them. There is interest in the recent introduction, AC Harovin Sundown (Cold Snap™) (Shaw, 2017), which is both winter hardy and less susceptible to fire blight (Hunter et al. 2009). Expanding access to new marketing opportunities requires fruit that can compete with imports, thereby meeting high quality (firmness, soluble solids, acidity levels), fruit size, volume, availability, and food safety criteria. To compete with current imports and expand local pear markets, growers will need to produce target-size fruit. Achieving large, high quality fruit with optimum yield often requires substantial fruit thinning in years when fruit set is heavy. Many studies on apples have shown that chemical thinning can improve fruit size and reduce biennial bearing. Several products, including Page 2 of 21 https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cjps-pubs Page 3 of 39 Canadian Journal of Plant Science naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), ethephon and 6-benzyladenine (6-BA) (applied post- bloom) and ammonium thiosulfate and lime sulphur (applied at bloom), have been used to thin pears; the most common post-bloom thinner is NAA followed by 6-BA. NAA has been used on other cultivars (McArtney and Well 1995, Meland and Gjerde 1996, Vilardell et al. 2005, Asin et al, 2009) with varying degrees of success. Benzyl adenine has also been used to thin several pear varieties with quite consistent results when applied between 100 and 200 mg L-1 (Stern and Flaishman 2003, Vilardell et al. 2005, Maas and Steeg 2010, Dussi and Sugar 2011, Bound 2015) Very little research hasFor been conductedReview on the Onlyuse of two new potential thinners, 1- aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid (ACC) and s-abscisic acid (s-ABA), which are being investigated on apples (Greene et al. 2011; Greene 2012; McArtney and Obermiller 2012; Einhorn and Arrington 2017), for use on pears. The objective of this research was to determine the effects of foliar applied NAA, 6-BA, 1-ACC and s-ABA on fruit set, crop load, fruit size, yield and quality of Cold Snap™ and Bosc pear cultivars. Specific objectives were to evaluate the efficacy of two different concentrations of each chemical thinner applied at ~ 10–12 mm fruit diameter and to determine the economic impact on final crop value after thinning in comparison to untreated and hand-thinned control trees. MATERIALS AND METHODS Experiment One: Cold Snap™ Cold Snap™ pear trees (planted in 2010 and formerly named Harovin Sundown), grafted on OHFx87 rootstocks and located at a commercial orchard near St. David’s, Ontario (Lat. 43.177582oN, Long. –79.090595oW) were used for this study. Trees were spaced at 0.91 m within and 3.65 m between rows (3011 trees/ha), trained to a vertical axis 3-wire spindle training system, and managed according to standard practices for Ontario (Anonymous, 2014). Treatments were applied using a commercial air blast axial fan sprayer (GB Irrorazione Diserbo, Model Laser P7, Italy) to single tree plots at 1379 Page 3 of 21 https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cjps-pubs Canadian Journal of Plant Science Page 4 of 39 kPa, 750 L/ha, calibrated to deliver approximately 2 L per tree which approximated tree row volume dilute (Sutton and Unrath 1988). To minimize treatment interference caused by spray drift, experimental units were separated by at least one guard tree. The ten treatments were applied to trees in a randomized complete block design with six replications. The same trees were used in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Full bloom occurred 18-May, 8-May, and 6-May in 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. Experimental units received one of the following ten treatments: i) untreated control; ii) hand-thinned control after ‘June’ drop; iii) 75 mg L-1 of 6-BA (Cilis Plus, Fine Americas Inc., Walnut Creek, CA); iv) 150 mg L-1 of 6-BA; v) 10 mg L-1 of NAA (Fruitone L, Amvac, Los Angeles, CA); vi) 20 mg L-1 of NAA;For vii) 150 Review mg L-1 of s-ABA Only (Protone); viii) 300 mg L-1 of s-ABA (Protone, Valent BioSciences Corp. Libertyville, IL); ix) 150 mg L-1 of ACC (Valent BioSciences Corp., Libertyville, IL); and x) 300 mg L-1 of ACC. All treatments were applied on 29 May 2014, 23 May 2015 and 26 May 2016 at ~10–12 mm fruitlet diameter. After natural fruit drop, the hand-thinned control treatments were hand thinned to commercial levels of 1-2 fruit per flower cluster and spaced approximately 15 cm apart. All treatments included 0.05% Regulaid® nonionic spray adjuvant (2- butoxyethanol, poloxalene, monopropylene glycol, KALO, Inc., Overland Park, USA). Fruit were harvested on 26 September 2014, 25 September 2015 and 27 September 2016. Experiment Two: Bosc Bosc pear trees (planted in 2010), grafted on OHFx97 rootstocks located at a commercial orchard near Virgil, Ontario (Lat. 43.208771oN, Long. –79.160627oW) were used for this study. Trees were spaced at 0.91 m within and 3.65 m between rows (3011 trees/ha), trained to a vertical axis 3-wire spindle training system, and managed according to standard practices for Ontario (Anonymous, 2014). Ten treatments were applied to single whole trees in a randomized complete block design with six replications. Full bloom occurred 20-May, 10-May, and 6-May in 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively, which generally followed Bosc by 1-2 days.