A mobile platform was developed for measuring midday canopy photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) interception in orchards. The results presented are for almond (Prunus dulcis) and walnut (Juglans regia), but the mobile platform can be used in other orchard crops as well. The mobile platform is adjustable to accommodate orchard row spacing from 4.8 to 7.8 m and is equipped with a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and radar for positional assessment as well as three IR thermometers for measuring soil surface temperature. Data from the mobile platform are logged at 10 Hz and stored on a data logger. Custom software has been developed to process the data. The mobile platform was used extensively for mapping midday canopy PAR interception in almond and walnut orchards in 2009 and 2010. The mobile platform produced comparable results to those collected with a handheld light bar with the advantage of being able to cover much larger areas and compare these data to mechanically harvested yield data over the same area. For almond orchards, midday canopy PAR interception peaked at ≈70% at an orchard age of ≈12 years. For walnut orchards, midday canopy PAR interception continued to increase to ≈15 years of age and peaked at a level above 80%. The mobile platform was also able to follow seasonal development of midday canopy PAR interception in young and mature orchards. This technology has potential for evaluating new varieties in terms of productivity per unit PAR intercepted, in evaluating hand pruning or mechanical hedging practices in terms of impact on PAR interception/productivity as well as evaluating effectiveness of insect or disease management treatments. It also has potential as a reference point for grower self-assessment to evaluate orchard canopy development compared with other orchards of similar variety, spacing, etc. Finally, this technology could be used as ground truth referencing for remotely sensed data.
In a comparison of six walnut rootstocks either nursery-grafted or field-grafted to `Chandler' (Juglans regia), the highest-yielding trees after 9 years are on either seedling or clonal Paradox rootstocks. Trees growing on both Paradox rootstocks had higher yield efficiency than trees on the black rootstocks in both 1995 and 1996. Since 1993, relative tree size based on trunk circumference has not changed: southern California black (J. californica), seedling Paradox and northern California black (J. Hindsii) have remained significantly larger than clonal Paradox, Texas (J. microcarpa) or Arizona (J. major) black rootstocks. The smaller size of clonal as compared with seedling Paradox trees might be explained by a delay in field grafting success. Although both northern and southern California black rootstock trees were significantly larger than clonal Paradox trees, they did not differ significantly in yield and had significantly lower yield efficiency in 1996. Clonal Paradox trees have significantly smaller nut size than northern California black rootstock trees that can be explained by its higher yield efficiency. An adjacent trial planted in 1991 compares micropropagated `Chandler' on its own root vs. `Chandler' on seedling Paradox rootstock. In 1995 and 1996, own-rooted `Chandler' had significantly greater trunk circumference, yield, and yield efficiency than did `Chandler' on Paradox rootstock. Many of the trees on Paradox rootstock are growing very poorly compared to the own rooted trees. This could be due to diversity within the Paradox seed source. If own-rooted `Chandler' trees become commercially available, they may have potential in areas where other rootstocks are undesirable because of hypersensitivity to cherry leafroll virus.
English walnut (Juglans regia, L.) is a monoecious species bearing staminate and pistillate flowers separately on the same tree. Walnuts are generally self-fruitful, cross-compatible and dichogamous, having incomplete overlap of pollen shed and female receptivity. It is this characteristic which led to the recommendation that about 10% of the trees in a commercial planting be a cultivar with a pollen shed period overlapping pistillate flower receptivity of the main cultivar. Excessive pollen load has been implicated in the `Serr' cultivar in pistillate flower abortion (PFA), the loss of the female flowers early in the season before fruit drop due to lack of pollination. PFA can be reduced and yield improved in `Serr' orchards by reducing pollen load. This can be accomplished by pollinizer removal, or catkin removal at the beginning of pollen shed by mechanical shaking. In years of significant bloom overlap between staminate and pistillate bloom, PFA can be further reduced and yield improved by removing `Serr' catkins. PFA occurs to a lesser extent in other cultivars such as `Chico', `Chandler', `Vina' and `Howard'. This information has led to the reevaluation of pollinizer recommendations. Research focused on optimum pollinizer levels in `Chandler', a cultivar of increasing importance to the California walnut industry, has been inconclusive. Lack of pollinizers may impact yields to a greater extent in the in the northern San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley than in the southern San Joaquin Valley. In any case the previously recommended 10% appears to be excessive. Two to three percent is probably adequate to limit losses due to lack of pollination without resulting in excessive PFA, and is currently being recommended by extension farm advisors and specialists. Factors to consider when determining the number of pollinators to plant include: cultivar susceptibility to PFA, walnut pollen load in the area and local pollination and fruit set experiences.
Covering a plant leaf with a reflective, water impervious bag ensures that equilibrium is reached between the nontranspiring leaf and the stem, and appears to improve the accuracy of determining plant water status under field conditions. However, the inconvenience of covering the leaf for 1 to 2 hours before measuring stem water potential (SWP) has constrained on-farm adoption of this irrigation management technique. A second constraint has been that the requirement of midafternoon determinations limits the area that can be monitored by one person with a pressure chamber. This paper reports findings from field studies in almonds (Prunus dulcis),prunes (P. domestica), and walnuts (Juglans regia) demonstrating modified procedures to measure midday SWP, making it a more convenient and practical tool for irrigation management. For routine monitoring and irrigation scheduling, an equilibration period of 10 min or longer appears to be suitable to provide accurate SWP measurements. Based on the large sample sizes in this study, we estimate that measurement error related to equilibration time for SWP can be reduced to an acceptable level [0.05 MPa (0.5 bar)] with a sample size of about 10 leaves when using a 10-min equilibration period. Under orchard conditions where tree growth and health appears uniform, a sample of one leaf per tree and 10 trees per irrigation management unit should give an accurate mean indicator of orchard water status. Under more variable orchard conditions a larger sample size may be needed. Midmorning and midday SWP both exhibited similar seasonal patterns and responded alike to irrigation events. On some occasions, midday SWP was accurately predicted from midmorning SWP and the change in air vapor pressure deficit (VPD) from midmorning to midday, but both over- and underestimate errors [to 0.3 MPa (3.0 bar)] appeared to be associated with unusually low or high diurnal changes in VPD, respectively. Hence, direct measurement of SWP under midday conditions (about 1300 to 1500 hr) is still recommended.
Walnut ( Juglans regia ) is one of the oldest cultivated fruits and an economically important tree, now widely cultivated in temperate regions for both its nuts and timber ( Chen et al., 2014 ). In China, this species has been cultivated for at
The Persian or English walnut (Juglans regia) is widely cultivated, with commercial production in France, Italy, Turkey, China, and the United States. Practically all of the U.S. production of Persian walnuts is in the central valley of California, which now has about 169,000 bearing acres with an average yield of around one and one-third short tons per acre. Many orchards produce over two tons, and three tons per acre are common in many modern plantings. Walnuts have two major outlets: the exported in-shell market (about 35% of production) and the domestic shelled market (about 68% of production). A cooperative handles about half the crop, while several independent handlers sell the remainder. Walnuts are sensitive to both low and high temperatures. Temperatures in excess of 90 °F will begin to sunburn nuts. Freezing temperatures will damage tender growth in the spring and fall. Dormant trees can tolerate 15 °F without injury if soils are moist. Dry winter soils and cold temperatures cause winter kill. A minimum of 800 hours of winter chilling are required to avoid delayed bud break and poor crops. Walnuts do best on deep, medium textured, well drained soil. Under these conditions, both rootstocks, the Northern California Black Walnut (J. hindsii) and Paradox (J. regia x J. hindsii), do well. Under less favorable soil conditions, Paradox is the preferred rootstock. A mature walnut orchard requires 4 to 4.5 acre-feet of water per acre per year if the trees are to produce the maximum number of high quality nuts possible. Hartley, preferred for its in-shell quality, is the leading cultivar, with about 30% of the acreage. In recent years, the Chandler variety has accounted for most new plantings. It is known for high kernel quality and yields. Yield factors include: bearing habit, bearing area, flower differentiation, fruit set, nut size, kernel percentage, and kernel quality. Major insect pests of walnut include codling moth, navel orangeworm, and walnut husk fly. The major diseases are walnut blight, deep bark canker, Phytophthora, and blackline. Major research efforts include the walnut breeding program, which includes blackline and Phytophthora susceptibility of new cultivars and root-stocks, codling moth and walnut husk fly control, epidemiology and control of walnut blight, pruning and planting strategies, and clonal propagation.
, A. Roozban, M.R. 2008 Morphological variation among Persian walnut ( Juglans regia ) genotypes from central Iran N. Z. J. Crop Hort. Sci. 36 159 168 Aslantas, R. 2006 Identification of superior walnut ( Juglans regia ) genotypes in north
its edible nuts and rich heartwood timber ( Miller and Chambers, 2013 ; Reid et al., 2009 ; Walker et al., 2002 ). Persian walnut ( Juglans regia ) is the basis of the worldwide industry and has a long history of domestication and organized genetic
Persian walnut ( Juglans regia L.), widely cultivated for nut production, is an ancient species ( Fjellstrom and Parfitt, 1994 ; Vahdati, 2000 ) originating in areas of Central Asia, including Iran. Wild trees of this species are widely dispersed
avellana (lat. 43.10083°N, long. 20.36600°E), 4) Prunus avium (lat. 43.08228°N, long. 20.36648°E), and 5) Juglans regia (lat. 43.13555°N, long. 20.44860°E). Each species was represented by a sample plot, five individuals, and a biomass sample per