Manipulation of Fruiting

Manipulation of Fruiting contains the proceedings of the 47th University of Nottingham Easter School in Agricultural Science, held at Sutton Bonington, England on April 18-22, 1988. The papers explore developments in the manipulation of fruiting and cover topics ranging from intra-plant competition to pollination, fruit set, and light interception and canopy manipulation. Genetic regulation and chemical manipulation of fruiting are also discussed. This monograph is comprised of 26 chapters divided into nine sections. The first section deals with the interactions that occur between vegetative and reproductive growth, focusing on source-sink effects and dry matter partitioning. The following three sections examine the sequential stages of producing a fruit from flower initiation, dormancy, and anthesis, through pollination to fruit set. Models that describe dormancy and flowering are presented; pollen incompatibility is considered; and the time available for pollination is analyzed. The physiology of fruit set is discussed together with methods to improve fruit set. The next three sections detail methods of manipulating fruiting, either physically by altering plant canopy structure and therefore light interception, genetically by breeding and selection, or chemically by the use of plant growth regulators. This book concludes with a look towards the future using genetic manipulation to alter fruit physiology. This text will be a valuable resource for crop researchers, plant physiologists, geneticists, and others interested in the state of research into fruiting.

Preface

Acknowledgments

I Introduction

1 The Manipulation of Fruiting

II Intra-plant Competition

2 Interactions between Vegetative and Reproductive Growth

3 Source/Sink Effects in Fruits: An Evaluation of Various Elements

4 Effects of Crop Reduction, Gibberellin Sprays and Summer Pruning on Vegetative Growth, Yield and Quality of Sweet Cherries

5 Dry Matter Partitioning in Cane Fruits

III Flower Initiation, Dormancy and An-thesis

6 Flower Initiation: New Approaches to the Study of Flowering in Perennial Fruit Plants

7 Dormancy - Models and Manipulations of Environmental/Physiological Regulation

8 Chilling, Thermal Time and the Date of Flowering of Trees

9 Modeling Flower Development in Citrus

IV Pollination

10 Pollination

11 Effective Pollination Period of Plums: The Influence of Temperature on Pollen Germination and Pollen Tube Growth

12 Overcoming Incompatibility

V Fruit Set

13 The Physiology of Fruit Set

14 Improved Fruit Set in Apple Using Plant Hormones

15 Citrus Fruit Set: Carbohydrate, Hormone and Leaf Mineral Relationships

VI Light Interception and Canopy Manipulation

16 Canopy Manipulation for Optimum Utilization of Light

17 canopy Micro-climate Effects on Patterns of Fruiting and Fruit Development in Apples and Grapes

18 Canopy Manipulation for Optimizing Vine Micro-climate, Crop Yield and Composition of Grapes

19 Pruning, Canopy Architecture and Plant Productivity

VII Genetic Regulation

20 Genetic Regulation of Fruiting

21 Some Genetic Factors which Control the Numbers and Size of Raspberry Fruit Produced on a Raspberry Cane

22 Breeding and Selection for Reliable Cropping in Apples and Pears

VIII Chemical Manipulation

23 Growth Factors and Plant Regulants in the Manipulation of Plant Development and Cropping in Tree Fruits

24 Control of Vegetative Growth

25 The Control of Vegetative Vigor in Strawberries by Use of Paclobutrazol

IX The Future

26 Manipulating Fruit Ripening Physiology

List of Participants

Index