Comparison of different planting systems for 'Conference'

In order to help fruit growers with the choice of the planting system, 7 different planting systems for ‘Conference’ on quince Adams were planted in the spring of 2002. Besides production and quality a lot of attention was paid to costs and labour. In order to enable a precise comparison, the test results of one planting system (bush-spindle shape) was fixed at 100%. The other planting systems included in the test were: the hedge of Tienen, the long pruning, the candlestick system, the V-system, spindle trees and the “Drapeau” system. At planting, the “Drapeau” system, the hedge of Tienen and the long pruning were cheaper in construction than the bush-spindle shape and the candlestick system. For this last system placing bamboos demanded extra labour. The V-system and the spindle trees were the highest in cost and labour. From the third year of growth, the costs were more or less the same for all the systems, except for the “Drapeau” system. The high costs of this system from the second until the sixth growing year were the result of placing extra wires to complete the system. The long pruning system and the hedge of Tienen had the lowest total costs after 11 years of growth. The highest yields were obtained with the long pruning, followed by the “Drapeau” system and the V-system. All the other planting systems, except the spindle trees, obtained comparable yields, which were 35 to 40% lower compared with long pruning. Over eleven years, the largest pears were found in the V-system and the candlestick system, while the smallest were found in the long pruning. After 11 years, the best financial result is obtained by the “Drapeau” system, followed by the long pruning and the V-system. The financial result was calculated starting from the real costs and the real labour. The calculation of the total costs after 11 years does not consider depreciation of investment costs.