Growth and yield relations in highbush blueberry

It was proposed that sequential yield component analysis could determine some growth and yield relations in highbush blueberry which could not be detected by ordinary regression procedures. The technique was applied to a commercial planting of the cultivar 'Bluecrop' in Pitt Meadows, Briti...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bowen, Patricia Ann
Language:English
Published: 2010
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2429/23888
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Summary:It was proposed that sequential yield component analysis could determine some growth and yield relations in highbush blueberry which could not be detected by ordinary regression procedures. The technique was applied to a commercial planting of the cultivar 'Bluecrop' in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia. Yield per bush depended most upon yields of individual canes. Ripe berry yield per cane was determined either by fruit set or the number of seeds per berry. Fruit set and berry enlargement determined green fruit yield per cane and ripening was related to bush canopy area. Buds initiated and the portion which differentiated into reproductive buds determined yield of clusters per cane. Cane thinning had beneficial effects upon growth and development while top thinning seemed to limit growth. No biennial bearing tendencies could be detected. It was concluded that sequential yield component analysis is a valuable technique for studying plant growth and yield relations, but interpretation problems can result if modelling assumptions are not met. === Land and Food Systems, Faculty of === Graduate