Effect of time of harvest on alternate cropping yields and fruit quality of Valencia orange trees

Abstract

At Loxton, South Australia, early harvest of heavy, and late harvest of light, Valencia orange crops was compared with the common practice: early harvest of light and late harvest of heavy crops. These treatments were compared with two years of early, mid- or late season harvests. Early harvest of heavy and late harvest of light crops changed the 3.1:1.0 alternate cropping cycle to 1.1:10 and increased the light crop by 101 per cent compared with the common district practice which gave a 3.2 : 10 cycle. Consistent early and mid-season harvests reduced the alternate cropping ratio to 1.3 : 1.0 and 1.4 : 1.0 respectively, produced 14 per cent more fruit than the common district practice and avoided harvesting the light crop late, when fruit quality is poor. Mature fruit weights from trees consistently harvested late were 27 per cent lower than those trees harvested mid-season.