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Submitted to: HortTechnology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 10/22/2018 Publication Date: 2/1/2019 Citation: Goenaga, R.J. 2019. Long term productivity of three rambutan cultivars grown in an ultisol soil in Puerto Rico. HortTechnology. 28:863-866. Interpretive Summary: The globalization of the economy, increased ethnic diversity and a greater demand for healthy and more diverse food products have opened a window of opportunity for the commercial production and marketing of tropical fruit, including rambutan. Replicated field trials to evaluate long-term performance of rambutan cultivars are absent in the literature. The objective of this study was to determine the yield potential of three rambutan cultivars (Jitlee, R-134, R-162) when the age of grafted trees was about 20 yr. The data were compared with that obtained from an early production period when the age of the trees was about 10 yr. Despite the experimental orchard being hit by a powerful hurricane before the 2017 harvest was completed, number of fruit and yield in 2017 were significantly higher in 2017 than in 2016. In 2017, average fruit number and yield of cultivars were 582,774 fruit/ha and 19,528 kg.ha-1, respectively, whereas in 2016 were 394,269 fruit/ha and 13,164 kg.ha-1, respectively. There were no significant differences among cultivars for number of fruit produced, averaging 488,521 fruit/ha. This production is higher than the 5-yr average obtained from the 2005-2009 harvest period when grafted trees were about 9 yr old. The results of this study demonstrate that grafted rambutan trees can remain prolific in mature orchards and provides for the first time useful information to Extension Agents and growers about yield and fruit quality traits of various rambutan cultivars. Technical Abstract: The globalization of the economy, increased ethnic diversity, and a greater demand for healthy and more diverse food production has increased the demand for tropical fruit, including rambutan. Replicated field trials to evaluate performance of rambutan cultivars have been very limited and as with many other tropical fruit crops, there is a scarcity of information on best management practices and optimum growing conditions for rambutan. The objective of this study was to determine the yield potential of three rambutan cultivars (Jitlee, R-134, R-162) when the age of grafted trees was about 20 yr. The data were compared with that obtained from an early production period when the age of the trees was about 10 yr. This information may help rambutan growers make expansion and/or investment plans. Despite the experimental orchard being hit by a powerful hurricane before the 2017 harvest was completed, number of fruit and yield in 2017 were significantly higher in 2017 than in 2016. In 2017, average fruit number and yield of cultivars were 582,774 fruit/ha and 19,528 kg.ha-1, respectively, whereas in 2016 were 394,269 fruit/ha and 13,164 kg.ha-1, respectively. There were no significant differences among cultivars for number of fruit produced, averaging 488,521 fruit/ha. This production is higher than the 5-yr average obtained from the 2005-2009 harvest period when grafted trees were about 9 yr old. The results of this study demonstrate that grafted rambutan trees can remain prolific in mature orchards. |
