Fast Facts On
1. Plant background
Stone fruit, from the Rosaceae family, subfamily Prunoideas, to which plums also belong. The apricot originates from Asia and western China, and there are written records of this fruit from 5000 years ago. From Asia, apricots were transferred to the Middle East and to Turkey, which
is presently considered to be the main grower of apricots. At present there are also several hybrids of plums and apricots, called plumcots. New varieties are now developed mainly in Europe and in the USA. At present there are about 10 popular varieties of apricots.
Contents List:
1. Plant background
2. Botanical description
3. Varieties
4. Climate conditions
5. Leading apricot growing countries
6. Growing season
7. Rootstock
8. Soil
9. Nursery
10. Tree treatments
11. Harvest
12. Tree spacing
13. Irrigation
14. Critical stages for water stress
15. Irrigation management with water shortage
16. Recommended irrigation method
17. Fertilization application
18. Yields
19. Main diseases
20. Main pests
21. Frost protection
 Fast facts on Apricot - full article
2. Botanical description
Trees grow to a height 4.0-6.0m with a canopy diameter of 4.5m. The apricot is ermaphrodite, and most varieties are self-pollinating, but some require a pollinating variety. Apricots prefer a dry climate for blossoming. Blossoms appear on the year-old branches, with a large number of blossoms growing on spurs. Blossoming begins about a week before the vegetative buds, from the beginning of February to the beginning of March. The stone develops in several stages. It hardens during the second stage of development, but is not connected to the pulp of the fruit. In order to attain large fruits, the small fruits are thinned out after the frost.
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3. Varieties
There are three main Variety groups: European, Asian and hybrids. Over hundreds of years, until only 100-200 years ago, apricot saplings were grown from seed, without any selection or betterment. As a result, there are local varieties in many countries, particularly in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It was only in the 20 century that apricots were separated into 3 Varieties IN Europe and the USA. The main varieties in the USA are: Royal, Tilton, Perfection, Moor park; in California the most popular variety is Castlebrite, and in New Jersey: NJA38, NJA43 and NJA82. Certain varieties were developed for extracting the kernel ,similar to almonds ,mainly in China. Popular varieties developed in Turkey were mainly in the Malatya region, for the dried apricot industry. This region produces 65%-80% of all dried apricots globally.There are varieties with a sweet kernel, and others with a bitter kernel .The bitter kernel varieties derive from a single variety: Zerdali .The source of t he sweet kernel is from central Asia and the Middle East.
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4. Crop climate conditions
The optimum is a moderate climate – Mediterranean, in which there is less danger of frost and diseases are less violent. Apricots require 400-1000 cold units, and may suffer from heat stroke at the beginning of spring. Temperature increases in early spring, causing early blossoming, result in poor blossoming and low yields. Resistance to low temperatures is similar to that of peaches. Asian varieties are resistant to winter in dormancy to temperatures of - 25 °to -25°C. Heavy rains and high humidity during blossoming, or close to harvest time, cause damages. Blossoms have low resistance to frost and - 1°C is sufficiently cold to do damage. Lately, new varieties have been developed that can withstand temperatures of - 20 °C. Certain varieties are sensitive to high temperatures that cause cracking in the fruit.
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5. Leading apricots growing countries (2003)
|
Planted area (ha) |
Production
(tons/Ha) |
Yield (T/ha) |
|
Turkey |
63.500 |
6.9 |
444.000 |
|
Iran |
32.000 |
8.9 |
285.000 |
|
Spain |
22.600 |
6.3 |
142.300 |
|
Pakistan |
13.000 |
9.6 |
125.000 |
|
France |
15.000 |
7.4 |
111.000 |
|
Italy |
17.200 |
6.3 |
108.500 |
|
Syria |
12.000 |
8.0 |
100.900 |
|
Morroco |
12.600 |
7.8 |
97.900 |
|
USA |
7.300 |
12.2 |
88.800 |
|
Ukraine |
10.000 |
8.0 |
80.000 |
|
Greece |
4.700 |
15.9 |
75.000 |
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6. Growing season
The flower buds open in February. Fruit usually starts to ripen in May, with harvesting from mid-June to mid-July. The growing period from blossoming to harvest is 70-120 days. If the summer is hot, fruit ripens earlier. The harvest period is very short, about two weeks, and shelf life is extremely short. It is not accepted practice to store apricots.
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7. Rootstock
Apricots are used as rootstocks for plums and peaches. On the other hand, peaches and plums serve as rootstocks for apricots. Good rootstocks originate from Britain. Most of the rootstocks are grown from seed.
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8. Soil
Apricots prefer deep, rich soil. Conditions are optimal in drained soil. The apricot has mediocre resistance to a high pH and to salinity, and is sensitive to over-saturated soil.
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9. Nursery
Like other deciduous varieties, it is common to plant saplings towards the end of the dormant season. Saplings are planted with roots exposed.
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10. Tree treatments
Standard pruning is to create an open center, also known as the Winter System. Vase-shape pruning is also acceptable. Growth is strong, therefore it is possible to prune deeply, without damaging the large fruits. Green pruning is done during the summer, when pruning “shoot growth” that grow in the tree’s center. It is not common practice to thin out blossoms, except in the event of excess blossoming. In regions suffering from diseases such as silver leaf or gummosis, trees are pruned after harvesting, or lightly pruned in the winter. Weeds along the rows should be treated with herbicides, while between the rows t hey should be mown; soil cultivation is not accept ed policy.
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11. Harvest
Harvesting is done manually and carefully. The fruit’s skin is sensitive to bruising. The harvest season is short, and therefore fruit is picked when its color changes. Selective picking is preferable.
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12. Tree spacing
Trees are planted 6 x 5 m; about 330 trees per hectare.
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13. Irrigation
Excess water causes trees to die,therefore water should be applied according to the tree’s needs.In heavy soil, trees should be irrigated once every 2-3 days,and once a day in light soils. Irrigation coefficients – Kc – based on class A pan evaporation rate according to the northern hemisphere.
|
|
April |
May |
June |
July |
Aug. |
Sept. |
|
Kc coefficient |
0.25 |
0.90 |
0.90 |
0.40 |
0.30 |
0.20 |
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14. Critical stages for water stress in the soil in apricot orchards
During blossoming, from fruit-set to ripening, during fruit growth, after harvesting.
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15. Irrigation deficiency management
where the water supply is limited,minimum waste of water is essential, so trees should be irrigated only to the point where they are sensitive to stress. However, if this quantity of water is insufficient for the tree’s needs, it is
necessary to find the right stage, where water reduction will do the least harm.Deficit irrigation can influence not only the current yield, but also the following season’s yield,therefore, it is necessary to find the most suitable
irrigation strategy. Apricot trees are resistant to stress during the central
period of fruit growth,but must receive full irrigation during the first stage at the start of the season, when they are sensitive to stress,because at this stage, in early spring,the tree buds,blossoms and fruit sets and grows
quickly. Because of climate conditions, water consumption is not great, but water should not be conserved. An additional critical stage is prior to harvesting, when fruit grows quickly,necessitating full irrigation. After
harvesting, it is necessary again to apply full irrigation. Deficit irrigation can be applied during the relatively long period of fruit and vegetative growth.
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16. Recommended irrigation method
Due to the relatively large spacing between rows of trees, two drip laterals per tree row are recommended. Dripper spacing should be 0.5m and the discharge rate, according to the soil type should be 1.6-2.3 l/h. The accepted equipment in mountainous regions is Ram, and in level terrain Tiran or Ram, and Uniram for subsurface drip.
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17. Fertilization application
During soil preparation: 200-300kg/ha P 2 O 5 and 400-600 kg/ha K 2 O should be applied, depending on soil test results. Fertilizer requirements for young and fruit bearing trees.
|
N-Kg/ha |
P2O5 - Kg/ha |
K2O -Kg/ha |
|
First year |
80-120 |
70 |
100 |
|
Second year |
120-150 |
70 |
150 |
|
Third year |
150-180 |
80 |
200 |
|
Mature orchard |
150-180 |
90 kg/annum |
300 |
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18. Yields
The first commercial harvest is after three years, and the orchard will reach full yields in years 4-6.During the third year, the yield will be 5 ton/ha, which in the sixth year it will be 18 ton/ha, and in mature orchards 20-30 ton/ha. Apricots continue to yield fruit for 25-40 years. Orchards affected by disease, will be productive for fewer years.
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19. Main diseases
blossom blast (pseudomonas syringae),brown rot (monilinia sp.), shot hole (wilsonomyces carpophila), perennial canker (leucostoma cincta), eutypa canker (eutypa lata), bacterial spot (xanthomonas campestris pr.), anthracose (glomeralla singulota), plum pox virus (sharka).
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20. Main pests
Peach twig borer (ansaria lineatella),shothole borer (scolitus rugulosus), peach tree borer (synathedon exitiosal), leaf roller (tortricid moth), spider mite, lecanium scale (parthenolecanium corni), aphids.
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21. Frost protection
Due to early blossoming, a frost protection system is essential in regions prone to frost. The recommended system is sprinkler irrigation above the canopy, using SuperNet micro-sprinklers in every tree, to enable wetting the tree’s foliage without wetting the ground between the rows.
Irrigation rate should be 3.5-month minimum. It is possible to use the frost protection system as irrigation system (micro-Sprinklers under canopy)
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