Productive performance of dwarf peach and nectarine orchard

A dwarf nectarine (UCD438100) and peach (Valley Red) cultivar selected by UC Davis were tested at the Experimental Farm of Udine University in northeastern Italy. Two planting densities (3,333 and 10,000 tree/ha) were compared. On half of the trees of each cultivar and density winter pruning and fruit thinning were performed, while the other half was left unpruned and unthinned. As far as productivity is concerned, both densities tested allowed high yield/ha. Pruning provided a better control of vegetative growth and light penetration. As a consequence, fruit distribution in the canopy was more uniform, while in the unpruned trees fruits were mainly located in the upper part. The adoption of both winter pruning and fruit thinning positively affected average fruit weight. Data collected on vegetative and productive performance allow us to consider these orchards as a possible alternative to those realized with standard cultivars. However, the diffusion of these cultivars is dependent on the improvement of the quality and handling resistance, which should be at least similar to the standard cultivars.