RENTABILIDADE DO RALEIO QUÍMICO EM TANGERINEIRAS ‘PONKAN’

Abstract

The evaluation of profitability of ‘Ponkan’ mandarin subjected to chemical thinning may constitute important information that allows the farmer to evaluate the feasibility of adopting the practice of management in his orchard. Thus, this study was developed with the aim to evaluate the profitability of the practice of chemical thinning in ‘Ponkan’ mandarin trees (Citrus reticulata Blanco). The work was carried out in 2009, 2010 and 2011 in an unirrigated orchard of ‘Ponkan’ mandarin, in the city of Perdões, the southern region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Before the treatments, in October 2008, 80 plants we selected with abundant flowering on the entire canopy, so that all the mandarin trees could have production significant quantities of fruit. In half of the plants was not performed the chemical thinning and the other half was applied 600 mg L-1 of Ethephon, after the period of physiological fruit drop, in January 2009, January 2010 and January 2011, when these were at stage 25 to 30 mm in transverse diameter. At harvest, in June 2009, June 2010 and June 2011 were evaluated the production per plant (boxes of 22 kg) and estimated the productivity of plants subjected to the chemical thinning and plants that were not subjected to this practice. The profitability analysis was performed in a simplified manner considering the production costs of the orchard already deployed with the production stable. The practice of chemical thinning promoted superiority of 176% on the average profitability of 'Ponkan' mandarin trees.