Features of Creating and Maintaining a Fruit Wall in Apple Orchard: Literature Review

The establishment of rational terms and methods of mechanised pruning of apple trees on dwarf rootstocks determine the relevance of the subject under study. The purpose of this review is to highlight the current state and issues associated with tree pruning to improve the technology of growing and increasing the productivity of plantations yielding high-quality fruit with a rational period of mechanised pruning of apple trees on a dwarf rootstock. Proceeding from the analysed literature sources, this paper highlights the current state and development trends of horticulture. A gradual increase in apple production in Europe observed, but an important factor limiting the growth of fruit production is labour productivity accompanying the laborious processes of tree trimming and harvesting. The seasonal nature of work involving numerous skilled workers leads to a shortage of labour force in horticulture. With the increase in wages and the decrease in the number of workers in agricultural production, the introduction of elements of mechanised care for plantations, namely mechanised pruning of the crown, is gaining more significance. The solution to the problem is to improve modern technology of growing apple orchards, using mechanised pruning and the formation of fruit wall in particular. This will allow balancing the available number of employees involved in fruit cultivation and orchards area, and, if necessary, moving away from seasonal work. This paper investigates the specific features of the use and the influence of different periods of mechanised pruning, in particular in winter (0 BBCH), in the pink bud phase (59 BBCH), in early summer (74 BBCH), after harvesting (93 BBCH), and considers the mechanisms used for this purpose. The study proves the positive influence of this technology on improving setting illumination of the crown and the content of chlorophyll in the leaf, optimisation of growth processes with a considerable increase in the number of formed buds. The increase in yield and its marketable quality is accompanied by reducing the size of the fruit, the ripening time of which is somewhat delayed. However, the chemical composition and taste of the fruits are not inferior to the cultivation technology involving manual pruning. The practical significance of the obtained results is to improve the technology of growing apple trees using mechanised pruning and manual maintenance of the inter-tree space, which ensures a considerable reduction in the need for skilled manual labour and increases productivity