Acta Scientiarum Polonorum: Hortorum Cultus (Dec 2014)
YIELD OF TWO STRAWBERRY CULTIVARS DEPENDING ON THE CROPPING METHOD ON THE EXAMPLE OF A COMMERCIAL PLANTATION IN A SPECIALIZED HORTICULTURAL FARM
Abstract
Poland belongs to leading producers of strawberries in Europe and strawberry production has played a significant role in Polish agribusiness for many years. The present study, conducted in a commercial plantation of a specialized horticultural farm during the period 2009–2011, evaluated the amount and quality of yield of two strawberry cultivars (‘Elsanta’ and ‘Albion’) grown under different cropping systems. The study determined the amount and structure of marketable yield. The different production systems included the cultivation of strawberries from fresh waiting-bed plants and frigo plants (class A and A+). Plants were grown in the ground and on black plastic under the row cropping system and the double-row strip cropping system. The average fresh marketable yield for cv. ‘Elsanta’ was 13.0 t·ha-1 and it was higher by 53.0% than the average strawberry yield for cv. ‘Albion’ (7.1 t·ha-1). Treatment D, in which cv. ‘Elsanta’ class A+ frigo plants were grown on black plastic under the double-row strip cropping system, proved to be the best yielding system – the average fresh marketable yield was 14.4 t·ha-1, while the total marketable yield 17.4 t·ha-1. The lowest average fresh marketable yield was obtained from the cv. ‘Albion’ plantation established from class A frigo plants grown in the ground under the double-row strip cropping system – only 4.9 t·ha-1. The percentage of fresh marketable fruits in the total marketable yield ranged from 66.6% for cv. ‘Elsanta’ to 89.6% for cv. ‘Albion’ plants.
