Inflorescence pruning and cincturing after full female bloom improve 'Yu Her Pau' litchi (Litchi chinensis) fruit bearing

Authors: CHANG, JENYU - Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute; Tang, Lisa; LIN, MEI-LI - Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute; CHANG, YU-AN - Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute; CHANG, JER-WAY - Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute

Submitted to: Fruits
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/6/2022
Publication Date: 8/2/2022
Citation: Chang, J., Tang, L., Lin, M., Chang, Y., Chang, J. 2022. Inflorescence pruning and cincturing after full female bloom improve 'Yu Her Pau' litchi (Litchi chinensis) fruit bearing. Fruits. 77(4):1-8. https://doi.org/10.17660/th2022/016.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17660/th2022/016

Interpretive Summary: ‘Yu Her Pau’ litchi has excellent fruit quality but low yield due to excessive early fruit drop. In this study, effects of two management practices, inflorescence pruning and branch cincturing, on fruit production were evaluated in multiple years. Both practices increased yield by increasing the number of fruit set after flowering and by improving early-stage fruit retention, respectively, without reducing fruit size and quality. The results indicate inflorescence pruning and cincturing are effective methods to increase litchi production.

Technical Abstract: ‘Yu Her Pau’, also called ‘Feizixiao’ or ‘Fay Zee Siu’, is one of the most popular litchi cultivars in the world. However, its yield is generally low because of the excessive fruit abscission that occurs during the initial fruit set. In this study, we aimed to determine the effects of both inflorescence pruning and cincturing on improvement of ‘Yu Her Pau’ litchi yield. Effects of inflorescence pruning and cincturing were evaluated seven days after full female bloom (AFFB) on ‘Yu Her Pau’ in 2013. Cincturing practices were repeated with the same trial design in 2014 to 2016. Both weekly fruit quantification and quality of harvested fruit was investigated and analyzed in the trials. Inflorescence pruning significantly increased the initial fruit set, which were five- to eight-fold greater than the number on the unpruned panicles, leading to a higher yield at harvest. Cincturing improved fruit retention starting from three weeks up to 11 weeks AFFB. More than 54% increase in fruit retention in cinctured trees compared with the control was observed, without any change of fruit size and fresh total soluble solid content. Our results suggested that the excessive fruit abscission in ‘Yu Her Pau’ may be related to resource limitations at the early stages of fruit development. Both inflorescence pruning and cincturing provided positive and additive effects on ‘Yu Her Pau’ production.