Evaluation of the application of ethylene inhibitors to prevent preharvest fall in 'Hass' avocado plants

Duarte, J. L. P.; Pires, M. C.; Peixoto, J. R.; Yamanishi, O. K.

Evaluation of the application of ethylene inhibitors to prevent preharvest fall in 'Hass' avocado plants

2018

Duarte, J. L. P. | Pires, M. C. | Peixoto, J. R. | Yamanishi, O. K.

Avocado is a fruit produced and consumed in several countries and in Brazil it is the 17th most produced fruit, occupying an area of 9,559 ha with a production of 156,669 t in 2014. In the ranking of Brazilian exports of fresh fruits, avocado occupies the 14th place with revenue (US$ FOB) of 9,537,147 and a volume of 5,806,712 kg in 2014. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the application of plant regulators to reduce the preharvest fall of 'Hass' avocado fruits. The experiment was carried out from August to October 2016 using different levels of naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 3,5,6-trichloropyridyloxyacetic acid (3,5,6-TPA) both inhibitors of ethylene biosynthesis on a TSUGE® group farm, in the city of Rio Paranaíba, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Salicylic acid and cobalt sulfate (Co), in combination with the above-mentioned inhibitors, were also part of the treatments. The experiment was established in a randomized block design, with four replications and four plants per plot, totaling 36 plants. The evaluation period was 60 days, divided into five distinct periods. After evaluating the fall of fruits in the different treatments, the plants that received the applications of the growth regulators had a lower fruit drop, highlighting the treatments with the different concentrations of NAA that presented statistical differences in relation to the other treatments, with reduction of almost 30% in the preharvest fruit drop resulting from the application of the 40 mg L-1 concentration associated with salicylic acid and cobalt sulfate in comparison to the control plants.

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