Today in Gardenprue we are going to discuss what is the vecería. Something that is not well known in agriculture but we do suffer from it in our crops. In fact, all those who have olive trees and observe variations in production depending on the season without explanation from now on will know that it is due to this. We are going to know a little more about this peculiar phenomenon.
Index
WHAT IS THE TURNAROUND?
The turnaround or alternation is the phenomenon by which fruit trees alternate strong harvests with years of little or no harvest. This alternation is proportional, that is, one year has good production and the next bad.
This process has a great economic repercussion, since logically the idea would be an equitable production each season. Due to the lapse the following problems occur:
- In the years of good production, the fruits are of small caliber and therefore of less commercial value.
- In the years of poor production, the fruits are few but large, so their commercialization is not optimal either.
- In the case of agri-food or processing industries, such as oil mills, they are underused in years of poor production and overloaded in years of good production.
WHY DOES THE TURNAROUND OCCUR?
The atmospheric climate is variable, however the alternation is usually stable and biannual, so it would be ruled out with total security that the causes were climatic. The causes are found in internal factors :
1.- DEPLETION OF HYDROCARBON RESERVES IN TREE ROOTS
The season in which good productions are harvested there is a depletion of the hydrocarbon reserves of the roots, being a limiting factor in flowering.
2.- INTERFERENCE BETWEEN FRUIT GROWTH AND VEGETATIVE GROWTH
The developing fruits compete for nutrients with the vegetative apices, and therefore causes a reduction in their development. As the shoots are the ones that bear the highest production load, therefore the harvest is reduced
3.- INTERFERENCE BETWEEN VEGETATIVE GROWTH AND FLOWER INITIATION
The floral initiation, in most fruit trees, occurs the year before flowering. The consumption of nutrients in the floral initiation is small, however it seems that the control that the control of the buds on the floral initiation is of a hormonal nature.
AFFECTED CROPS
The trees that are affected by the turnout are usually almost all fruit trees , only that each species presents a greater or lesser degree of this phenomenon. Citrus, apple, olive, acorn, etc. In the case of the olive tree , it undergoes a severe alternation or loss, which can be more or less controlled with its pruning .
OVERSIGHT CONTROL METHODS
Overrun is certainly a problem but it can be reduced with good practices. The results are variable and depend on the species, variety and climate, among others. These control methods are as follows:
- Fruit thinning
It is the most effective method for the control or regulation of the due date. Furthermore, the effectiveness of thinning will be maximum when it is carried out in the first stages of fruit development.
- Lined
The streaking is usually done in citrus farming. It consists of the interruption of the phloem flow by means of a cut in the bark of the tree capable of temporarily preventing the descent of the elaborated sap to the roots. With this, it produces a stimulation in the growth of the fruits since it is related to the movement and accumulation of carbohydrates, improving the fruit set and the final harvest.
THE DEFEAT IN THE OLIVE TREE
In the case of the olive tree, the failure may be caused by the tendency to produce a greater number of fruits than it will be able to nourish in the future, so that after the harvest the tree is completely exhausted. , with a poor growth of shoots, which are the carriers of the future harvest. In order to regulate the turn in the olive tree, the years in which an excessive production is foreseen, with the pruning the number of flower buds should be prevented (thinning of fruitful branches). On the contrary, for cases in which low production is predicted, pruning should be done with very little intensity or not at all.