IMPACT OF MECHANICAL CONTOUR RUNNING ON YIELD AND FRUIT QUALITY OF APPLE GRAFTED ON M9 ROOTSTOCK INTENDED FOR INDUSTRIAL PROCESSING

Abstract

Labor shortages and the high costs of manual pruning are prompting fruit growers to adopt mechanical apple pruning, particularly for fruit intended for industrial processing. The research was carried out on the cultivars 'Champion', 'Golden Delicious', 'Golden Rezistent', and 'Pinova' (M9 rootstock, 4.0 x 1.2 m planting scheme). Mechanical contour pruning was
performed in the spring on both sides of the canopy at angles of 12–13° and 4–5° relative to the vertical plane, maintaining a basal width of 150–180 cm. Both methods (mechanical and manual) reduced tree height to 3.0 m and canopy width to 2.0 m. The mechanical variant established a compact fruiting wall without compromising bearing capacity. Average fruit weight decreased moderately (from 110.13 g to 101.03 g), which was offset by high yield and economic efficiency. However, mechanical pruning requires manual follow-up detailing and rigorous fruit thinning.