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Fruit Production

Course developer

Course abstract

Diversity of fruit and berry plants, their ecological requirements, growing aspects, the diversity of propagation methods and the growing of plants, and the preconditions for quality production. In laboratory and practical works, students acquire an in-depth understanding of fruit and berry plants and practical skills in their propagation, growing, caring and quality assessment.

Learning outcomes and their assessment

1. Know the classification of fruit and berry plants, their structure and biological properties – test 1
2. Know the methods of fruit and berry plant propagation, plant growing organisation, technology diversity and the conditions for marketing them - test 2
3. Know the fruit and berry garden design, installation and care – test 3
4. Are able to recognise fruit and berry plants, independently perform major work operations in the propagation and growing of plants, planting, caring, harvesting and crop quality assessment - laboratories and practical works
5. Competent to study and collect information independently, to prepare presentations and to justify their decisions and views – individual work

Course Content(Calendar)

I Introduction (4 h)
1. Place of Fruit Production in the agricultural production system, its economic importance, its spotlight and perspective. The role of fruits and berries in human nutrition - 1 h
2. Legislative regulations in fruit production - 1 h
3. Classification and systematics of the fruit and berry plants – 2 h
II Fruit and berry plant diversity, structure and biological properties (28 h)
3. Diversity of fruit plants – 2 h
4. Botanic and biological properties of different fruit and berry plants, their growing and use – 7 h
5. Fruit plant structure, effects of fruit plant structure features on garden care, production and life - 6 h
6. Characteristics of fruit plant vegetation and dormancy periods, their effects on production and winter hardiness - 2 h
7. Yield formation and care of yield of fruit plants. Annual and bi-annual production – 1 h
8. Fruit plant cultivars – 2 h
9. Evaluation of fruit yield, harvesting and storage of fruits and berries - 5 h
10. Quality analysis of fruits and berries. Conditions for high quality yield – 2 h
Test 1. Introduction. Fruit/berry plant diversity, structure and biological properties
III Propagation of the fruit and berry plants (14 h)
11. Methods of generative and vegetative propagation of the horticultural plants - 1 h.
12. Propagation of fruit/berry plants with seeds — 3 h
13. Methods of vegetative propagation of horticultural plants by rooting- 3 h
14. Propagating of the horticultural plants by grafting – 3 h
15. Types of plant production: bare-roots plants, plants with closed root system. The technological process of plant production. Types of nurseries. Structure of nursery farms, selection of propagation material – 2 h.
16. Regulations regarding propagation material of horticultural plants. Certified and standard material. Plant passports – 1 h.
Test 2. Propagation of fruit/berry plants
IV Fruit and berry garden establishment and maintenance (16 h)
1. Conditions for selection of fruit and berry orchard sites, orchards systems and installation technological processes -7 h
2. Maintenance of soil and plants in the garden, special features of crown construction, depending on the species, rootstock, age of plants and type of garden - 8 h
Test 3. Fruit/berry garden establishment and maintenance
Workshop on Individual work – presentations on the cultivation of specific fruit/berry crops, selecting the specie of the interest – 2 h

Laboratory / practical work topics:
• Description of the characteristics and identification of fruit plants by samples of a given plant.
• Structure of fruit/berry plant root and crown system and types of spurs
• Anatomical structure of the trunk and branches of fruit plants
• Determination of the age of the fruit tree and description of the life conditions based on the data of trunk cross-section analysis.
• Characterization of grafted plant grafting components compatibility according to the data of the analysis of the fusion sites
• Methods for determining the optimum time for fruit harvesting.
• Fruit harvesting and yield parameter calculations
• Changes in quality and quantity of fruit production during storage
• Sensory and agronomic evaluation of given fruit varieties, analysis of variety diversity and cultivar choice conditions.
• Evaluation of fruit quality according to market and regulatory requirements. Analytical study of the causes of quality loss in given fruit samples
• Classification of fruit buds and their dislocation in the crown. Characterization of previous years' yield of tree (shrub) and forecasting of next year's yield based on the analysis of branches of given samples
• Types of propagation of fruit/berry plants, methods of propagation by cuttings.
• Propagation of fruit plants by seeds, stratification of seeds.
• Propagation of fruit plants by grafting and growing of grafted plants, learn basic grafting techniques
• Basics of fruit tree crown formation and crown care. Orchard care and maintenance systems. Wound care.
• Basics of berry shrub crown formation and care

• Opportunities for restoring the crown of fruit plants of different age and height

Requirements for awarding credit points

An exam.

Students who have successfully passed all tests, have developed and got credited practical and laboratory works and have successfully presented their Individual work can take the exam

Description of the organization and tasks of students’ independent work

Individual work – review on the selected fruit/berry crop growing. It consists of an overview of professional and scientific literature about all main aspects of growing and use of the chosen crop. It is recommended (but not limited) to choose the crop, grown in the student’s country of origin. The work shall be presented to the student group at the seminar.

Criteria for Evaluating Learning Outcomes

The final evaluation of the examination shall be the average mark from the examination and the tests written during the semester and the individual job marks.
It is possible to obtain the accumulating exam rating as the arithmetic mean from the tests written during the semester and the individual job marks, if their score is not lower than 7.


The laboratory, practical and individual works shall be evaluated in accordance with the procedures for assessment specified in the laboratory, practical and individual works tasks

Compulsory reading

1. Temperate and Subtropical Fruit Production. (1999)/ Ed. by D. Jackson and Looney N. E. 2nd ed. Portland: Timber Press. 400 p.
2. Janick, Paull, Janick, Jules, and Paull, Robert E. The Encyclopedia of Fruit & Nuts / Edited by Jules Janick and Robert E. Paull. Wallingford, UK ; Cambridge, MA: CAB International, 2008
3. Fundamentals of Temperate Zone Tree Fruit Production. Ed. by J. Tromp, A.D. Webster, S.J.Wetheim. Leiden: Backuys Publishers, 2005. 400 p.

4. Nursery management, tree propagation and marketing. (2013) Nairobi: World Agroforestry Centre, 60 p. http://old.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/Publications/PDFS/MN17565.pdf

Further reading

1. Westwood M. K. (1993) Temperate-Zone Pomology. Physiology and Culture. 3rd ed. Portland: Timber Press. 535 p
2. Valero, Daniel. Postharvest biology and technology for preserving fruit quality [elektroniskais resurss] / Daniel Valero and Maria Serrano. Boca Raton, Fla. : Taylor & Francis Group, 2010. 287 p.
3. Gough, Bob. An encyclopedia of small fruit [elektroniskais resurss] / Bob Gough. Binghamton, N.Y. : Haworth Food & Agricultural Products Press, c2007. 161 p.
4. Rosa L. A., Alvarez-Parrilla E., González-Aguilar G A. Fruit and vegetable phytochemicals :chemistry, nutritional value and stability, Ames, Iowa, (2010) Wiley-Blackwell, 367 p.

5. Postharvest: The physiology and handling of fruit, vegetables and ornamentals, 5th (2007)edition by R.Wills, 252 p.

Periodicals and other sources

1. Acta Horticulturae ISSN: 0567-7572
2. Journal of Tree Fruit Production (ISSN 1540-8590)
3. Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Section B. Natural, Exact, and Applied Sciences. (open access): https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/prolas/prolas-overview.xml?tab_body=overview and more specific:
4. Vol 71.3, 2017. https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/prolas/71/3/prolas.71.issue-3.xml
Vol 67.2, 2013 https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/prolas/67/2/prolas.67.issue-2.xml
5. Fruit Quarterly – (open access) http://nyshs.org/fruit-quarterly/past-issues/
6. Obstbau - https://www.obstbau.org/

7. Plant Nursery Management: Principles and Practices. (2014) Ratha Krishnan, Rajwant K. Kalia, J.C. Tewari, M.M. Roy. Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, 40 p. http://www.cazri.res.in/publications/PRathaKrishnan.pdf

Notes

Elective course for exchange students (ERASMUS+ etc.) in bachelor (undergraduate) studies level.