2015 Progress Report -Project 2020: Optimizing Sweet Cherry Orchard Design & Efficiency

摘要

2015 comprised year two of this seven-year project (2014-2020) to integrate and optimize sweet cherry production physiology, orchard technologies, and labor efficiencies. Since 2000, a continuing series of horticultural studies at MSU and elsewhere have developed and refined many complementary production components for future sweet cherry orchards: dwarfing rootstocks, canopy carbon acquisition andallocation to fruit, pedestrian and fruiting wall canopy architectures, high frequency low duration irrigation, various orchard covering systems, precision nitrogen application, and solid-set canopy spray systems. This project synthesizes many of these various components into a research/demonstration orchard that combines state-of-the-art sweet cherry production knowledge and emerging orchard technologies to optimize yields, production consistency, fruitquality, and efficient orchard management.