Evaluating Growing Degree Days and Fruit Development Periods in Peach Breeding Material from Clemson University
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71318/dbg1fc77Keywords:
ripening time, harvest management, fruit harvest prediction, Growing Degree Days, Growing Degree HoursAbstract
Anticipating fruit maturation is critical for peach growers' orchard management and marketing. Due to short shelf life and perishable nature of peach fruit, peach growers grow many cultivars in a season to provide continuous supply of fresh fruit to consumers. To efficiently manage orchard operations, peach growers use growing degree days (GDD) mathematical model to predict peach fruit maturity and aid in harvest scheduling. GDD calculates accumulated heat and relates it to key physiological stages, such as ripening time, in a plant life cycle. Ripening time of peach cultivars is reported in the calendar or Julian days (JD), as fruit development period (FDP), or as the number of days before or after a reference cultivar. Presenting ripening time this way does not account for seasonal variation and is not adaptable to climate change. Therefore, we evaluated GDD and FDP from full bloom to ripening time in 97 peach and nectarine accessions from the Clemson University peach breeding program over six years (2018-2023). The GDD and JD variability and implication of providing this information on existing and newly released cultivars to producers and researchers are discussed.
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