Causes and Control Measures of Apple Replant Problem
N. Sharma, Pramod Verma, Niranjan Singh, Babita Babita, Horticulture Development Officer, Government of Himachal Pradesh, India
Abstract
Amongst fruit crops, apple is an important crop of temperate regions of the world. Its plants fail to survive or show poor growth when planted on a site where apple was grown earlier. This is a serious problem all over the word for the establishment of new apple orchards on old sites. The problem becomes more serious in the present context when there is a trend towards high-density plantations, using dwarf scion and stock combination. The economic life of such dwarf trees is very short and need to be replanted after a short span of 15-20 years. Apple replants problem is a complex problem that reduces survival, growth and yield of replanted trees and is often encountered in establishing new orchards on old sites It is a common problem typified by stunted growth and reduced yields in successive plantings of apple on old orchard sites The disease is a complex syndrome that affects young trees in replanted orchard sites causing necrotic lesions on feeder roots, stunted tree growth and reduced cumulative yields