Huge Yield Variability: Researchers are finding tremendous differences in yields within pistachio orchards

摘要

GROWERS know that certain orchards are more productive than others, and that certain blocks within those orchards likewise differ. But researchers are learning that there are tremendous differences from tree to tree — as much as 40% — and they're hoping that some day soon growers may be able to monitor those differences, boosting overall yields enormously. Pomologist Patrick Brown and colleagues at the University of California-Davis have been monitoring the yield of every tree in an 80-acre pistachio orchard for the past six years. Brown says the orchard, which is located near Kettleman City, CA, is one of the best orchards in the region. But even in such a well-managed orchard, the yields among the 10,000 trees vary widely. "We're seeing yield differences of 30% to 40% from tree to tree," he says. "But you would never know it's there unless you monitor the harvest precisely."