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Course: B.Sc. Agriculture

Subject: Principles of Horticulture

Unit :5

Cultivation practices of Peach

Introduction Peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) Rich in proteins, sugar, minerals and vitamins Introduction of the cultivated peaches probably took place in

the latter half of the 19th century. Today, it is being grown in the midhill zone of the Himalayas

extending from Jammu and Kashmir to Khasi hills 1,000–2,000m above mean sea-level.

Low-chilling peaches are grown in submountaineous region and Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh.

It is also being grown to a limited scale in the hills of south India and in the north-eastern region of the country.

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• The peach along with its smooth-skin mutant, the nectarine, is a temperate juicy fruit of excellent appearance and quality.

• It comes in the market early in the season, particularly from low chilling cultivars grown in warmer regions.

• The grower can benefit from the relatively higher market prices at this juncture due to the scarcity of other fruits.

• The first good crop of peach is obtained within 4-5 years of planting, which is sooner than other temperate fruits.

• Therefore, expanding on a faster pace in many countries and its fruit production is highest among all the stone fruits.

Origin & distribution• Despite its botanical name (Prunus persica) the peach

originated in china and not Persia.• Three wild species are still commonly found there.• Prunus davidiana is an ornamental tree growing in northern

China and used as rootstock.• Other two species P. mira and P. ferganensis are indigenous to

Tibetan plateau and Sinkiang province, respectively.• Another species P. behimi, considered as a natural hybrid of

almond and peach, which is use as rootstock for almond, peach and plum.

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Top 10 Countries (% of world production):-

1. China (44) 6. France (3)

2. Italy (13)   7. Turkey (3)

3. USA (10)  8. Iran (3)

4. Spain (8) 9. Chile (2)

5. Greece (7)  10. Argentina (2)

PRODUCTION WORLD (2004 FAO) – 15,561,206 MT or 34 billion pounds. [Note: world production data includes both peaches and nectarines] Peaches and nectarines are produced commercially in 71 countries worldwide on about 3.5 million acres.

Scientific classification

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Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Rosales

Family: Rosaceae

Genus: Prunus

Subgenus: Amygdalus

Species: P. Persica

B. N. Prunus persica (L.) Batsch

Climate • Require humid climate with cold winter and dry summer• It is moderately winter hardy and sensitive to low temperature injury.

Swelling buds are injured at –6.5°C.• Free from early spring frost are more suitable as peaches bloom early in

the season. • The blooming period can be delayed by the application of Gibberellic acid

(200ppm) before leaf fall or by application of Ethephon, to avoid the risk of spring frost.

• Deep valleys are not ideal sites because cold air settles in these areas, and frost and freeze injuries are very common.

• The land with gentle slope is ideal. However, on steep slopes peach should be planted preferably in the mid portion.

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Soil • Deep sandy loam soil rich in organic matter is best for its

successful cultivation.• Peaches are highly susceptible to waterlogging and prefer

perfect drainage. • Fertile and heavy soils are hazardous as it makes heavy

growth and hence results in winter injury. • The pH of the soil should be between 5.8 and 6.8. Acidic and

saline soils are unfit for peach cultivation.

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VARIETIESImportant peach varieties recommended for temperate regions of different states are given in the Table 1..

State Early Mid-season Late

Himachal Pradesh

Alton, World’s Earliest, Early White Giant, Redhaven, Stark Red

Gold

July Elberta, Kanto 5, Shimizu Hakuto,

Sunhaven

J.H. Hale

Uttar Pradesh (midhills)

Early Candor, Redhaven, Sunhaven

July Elberta, Alexander, Crawford

Early

Parrot Delux, J.H. Hale, Peregrine

Jammu and Kashmir

Peshwari, Quetta, July

Elberta, Saharanpur

Prabhat

J.H. Hale Alexander

and CO Smith 

Varieties

For colder conditions the peach cultivars July Elberta, Elberta, Peshwari, Quetta, Burbank and Stark Earliglo are well adopted.

Low-chilling cultivars viz., Flordasum, Flordared, Shan-e-Punjab, Sharbati and Sunred (nectarine) have become popular in subtropical belts of U.P. and Punjab States.

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PROPAGATION,PLANTING AND ROOT STOCKS.   Propagation is done by budding on seedling peach. One-year-old grafts are planted 6 to 8 metres apart in early spring. Immediately after planting, the trees are white-washed to protect the bark from the sun.

Peach is commercially propagated through grafting or budding. Peach seedlings are generally used as rootstock, though plum, apricot and almond seedlings can also be used. Some nurseries also use Behmi (P. mira) as rootstock for peach. Since wild species produce more vigorous and hardy seedlings than the cultivated varieties, wild peach seedlings are preferred in the hills. Before sowing, seeds are stratified at 4°–10°C for 10–12 weeks in the moist sand. The stratification of peach seeds can also be done under natural conditions and cold storage at 10°C or below. Pre-sowing treatment of seeds with thiourea (0.5%), GA (200ppm) or BA (100ppm) reduces the stratification period, enhances seed germination and improves the seedling growth.

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Rootstock CharacteristicsBailey :-

Cold hardy rootstock with good overall performance; best in the northern states

Guardian :- Vigorous rootstock with resistance to peach tree short life syndrome; slightly more expensive. Used extensively in the eastern USA, and in areas where peaches were planted previously.

GF677 (Amandier) :- A peach-almond hybrid for adaptation to high pH soils; highly vigorous; not well adapted for eastern US

Halford :- Good overall rootstock for northern states

Lovell :- Moderately invigorating rootstock with fair resistance to peach tree short life

Nemaguard :- Invigorating rootstock with resistance to root knot nematode; susceptible to other nematodes and peach tree short life

Siberian C :- Cold hardy rootstock used only in the northern tier of states and Canada; short-lived and poor in the southern states

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The stratified seeds are then sown in well-prepared beds about 5cm deep and 15cm apart at a row-to-row spacing of 20cm. Seed-beds are mulched with 6–10cm thick dry grass and light irrigation is given after sowing to avoid desiccation of seeds. Seeds start germinating in March. The seedlings become buddable in June, if they are grown in fertile soil with full care, they become graftable in the following winter. Peaches are propagated commercially by tongue or cleft grafting and T-budding or ring budding. In hills, tongue grafting during January–February and T-budding during May–June are performed. However, in plains grafting is performed during November–January and budding during April–June and September.

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TRAINING AND PRUNING Of the conventional training systems, modified leader and open centre are usually adopted to train peach trees. If sunlight exposure is a limiting factor (hills), At the time of planting, the stem is cut to about 0.6 metre from the ground and three to four branches are allowed to develop, distributed round the main stem. All other shoots that grow during the first summer are removed. During the first dormant season, two well-spaced secondary branches on each main branch are selected and the main branch is cut close t the secondary branches. During the second summer, water-sprouts, if any are removed. At the time of second pruning in winter, secondary branches are not cut, except to regulate the shape of the tree. In pruning, cut always to the outside buds to encourage a spreading shape. In the case of bearing trees, annual pruning is necessary to maintain the centre open. Two- to three-year-old branches may be cut back to the outward-pointing side branches to encourage a spreading growth. Shorten and thin outside branches to stimulate the growth of new fruiting wood every year. A satisfactory annual growth should be 45 to 50 cm long. Fruit-buds are borne laterally upon one-year-old wood and on short spur-like twigs. Ordinarily, they develop two fruit-buds and a leaf-bud at one node. The fruit-buds are usually located from the middle of the shoot upwards. In cutting away branches, the position of the fruit-buds should be taken into consideration.

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MANURING AND FERTILIZATION The peach has a relatively high requirement for N and K. The fertilizer schedule recommended for fully-grown peach trees in different states is given in

Fertilizer/nutrient recommendations for fully-grown peach tree

State Age of Tree

Farmyard manure N P2O5 K2O

(kg/tree) (g/tree)

Himachal Pradesh 6 40 500 250 700

Uttar Pradesh 10 - 300 500 300

Tamil Nadu  - 20 200 1,000 1,000

Arunachal Pradesh 7 50 350 210 210

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Whole quantity of farmyard manure along with P and K is given during December–January. Half of N should be given in spring before flowering and the remaining half a month later if irrigation facilities are available. Under rainfed conditions, N fertilizers should be applied in one lot 15 days before budbreak. The manures and nitrogenous fertilizer should always be applied by broadcasting evenly in the tree basins which should be sufficiently large and should encompass the entire canopy of the tree. It should be thoroughly mixed in soil by gentle raking. Phosphatic and potassic fertilizers should be applied in trenches of 20–25cm width and 10–15cm deep made beneath the tree canopy at a distance of 1–2m from the main trunk. The trees should be irrigated lightly immediately after the application of manures and fertilizers. Peach is very susceptible to Fe deficiency which can be controlled by foliar application of 0.5–1.0% ferrous sulphate or by soil application of 50–250g chelated Fe (Fe-EDDTA) at 20–30 spots around the tree in small holes. Trunk injection of 1% ferrous sulphate or ferric citrate is also beneficial in extreme cases.

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CULTURE  

A peach orchard should be regularly cultivated. Ploughing, which should not be deeper than 10 cm, is generally done in winter. A suitable cover or green-manure crop may be sown in the rainy season after the fruits are picked and ploughed-under during winter. A dose of fertilizers to supply 55 to 65 kg of N, 55 to 65 kg of P and 110 to 135 kg of K per hectare may be applied to the bearing trees in spring. Immediately after the natural fruit-drop in May and June, the fruits should be thinned out so as to have them 10 to 15 cm apart.

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AFTERCARE Peach July Elberta in high hills, and Redhaven, Sunhaven, Kanto 5 and Shimizu Hakuto are prolific bearing. Their fruit size remains small as a result of excessive cropping. Therefore, application of Ethephon (300ppm) with Tween 20 at petal fall in July Elberta is recommended for optimum fruit thinning. However, in Redhaven peach Ethephon (600pm) 20–30 days after fruit set when the fruitlets are 20–25cm in diameter, should be used for thinning. Hand-thinning at 5–7.5cm fruit spacing at pit-hardening stage is equally effective. Simazine and Atrazine (2.9kg/ha), Turbacil (0.8kg/ha) as pre-emergent and Paraquat (4.0 litres/ha) and Glyphosate (4.32kg/ha) as post-emergent herbicides are quite effective to control weeds without any phytotoxic effect. In nursery, Oxyflurofen (0.5kg/ha) and Diuron (2kg/ha) are good to control weeds.

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IRRIGATION To get optimum-sized and quality peaches, irrigation is very much essential. There should be sufficient moisture in soil before the emergence of leaves and flowers. Frequent irrigations are needed during the fruit development. Lack of irrigation, particularly during dry and hot summer result in fruit drop, reduced fruit size and quality. In hills, at least two irrigations should be given during the fruit development period. Irrigation should be stopped a few days before harvesting and at the time of dormancy, when the plants should become sufficiently hardened to withstand cool weather. Due to scarcity of water in hills, drip irrigation is recommended.

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HARVESTING AND POSTHARVEST MANAGEMENT

To get premium price and reduce the losses during packaging and transporting, peaches should be harvested at optimum stage of maturity. A large number of maturity indices—days to maturity, calendar date, fruit size, firmness, sense of touch, pit discoloration, freeness of pit, taste, ground colour, sugar, acidity, starch, sugar : acid ratio—have been assessed on different cultivars. The days from full bloom to maturity vary in different cultivars—Alexander, 86 days; July Elberta, 101 days; Babcock, 122 days and Elberta, 127 days. All peach fruits do not mature simultaneously. Therefore, these may be harvested in 3–4 pickings at 4 days interval. For distant markets, they should be harvested when they attain good colour but are still hard and ripe, whereas for local consumption tree ripe peaches are harvested by twisting with hand. The peak harvesting period for different peach cultivars in hills is mid-May (Shan-e-Punjab)–mid-July (July Elberta and Shimizu Hakuto).

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The peach comes into bearing after 2 years of planting in the field. The plants bear for about 20 years. The yielding capacity increases with the age of the plant. The average yield of fully-grown trees of different varieties varies from 50 to 125kg in hills. In conventional plantations, 7–10 tonnes/ha and in Tatura Trellis about 23 tonnes/ha yield can be obtained. Peaches ripen very fast as the harvesting season coincides with the prevailing high seasonal temperature. Ripening process declines to half with each reduction of 5.6°C from 21.1°–4.4°C. The fruits ripen in 3 days at 21.1°C, while in 6 days at 15.5°C. Peaches ripen with good flavour and aroma at temperature above 15.0°C, with undesirable flavour at 10°C and breakdown internally instead of ripening at 4.4°C. The harvested fruits must be disposed off as expeditiously as possible. Peaches are graded to fetch better price in the market. Size grading is essential for uniformity and packing in standard cartons or boxes.

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PHYSIOLOGICAL DISORDERS Sunscald causes severe damage to the exposed trunk and main scaffold branches. Shading of branches considerably reduces the incidence. Painting of exposed surface with lime paste and shading by wrapping straw or hay around the trunk and thicker branches is quite effective in mitigating the problem. Splitting of fruits generally occurs at dorsal and ventral sides mostly at the time of pit hardening stage. Sometimes gum exudes from the fruit making it unfit for consumption. Splitting and gumming are accentuated during heavy rains after a long dry spell. The exact cause of this problem is still to be determined.

Harvesting For harvesting peach at the right time, the proper

color development in fruits and pit browning are considered as reliable guides.

In yellow fleshed cultivars, deep orange color development on fruits is associated with proper maturity.

At least 5% of the pit area also should be brown if the fruit is to develop good flavor at ripening. In the peach variety July Elberta, it takes about 90-95 days after full bloom, whereas on cv. Elberta it normally takes 100-105 days.

In low chilling cultivars like Flordasun, fruits should be harvested at 50% color development stage

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Web References:

1. megapib.nic.in/pppeach.htm2.megagriculture.nic.in/PUBLIC/package_of_practice/

temperate_fruits.aspx3.skuast.org/site/Templates%20HTML/extension/package.pdf4. www.netafim.com/crop/peaches-and-nectarines/best-practice