Agronomic and carpometric characterization of olive tree cultivars

Abstract

Growing olive trees in Brazil is a recent practice, and their productive attributes, as well as available cultivars, are not yet well-known. The agronomic and carpometric characterization of fruits from different cultivars are vital for the improvement of the Brazilian olive growing. This study aimed at evaluating the agronomic characterization and carpometry of 35 olive tree cultivars. The experiment was conducted in the Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária de Minas Gerais (Epamig) experimental farm, in Maria da Fé, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. For the agronomic characterization, a completely randomized design with three replications was used, with one plant per plot, and yield, number of fruits per plant, trunk section and outer crown volume and surface were evaluated. For the carpometric characterization, a completely randomized design with ten replications was used, with one fruit or pit per plot, and length, width, fruits mass and volume and pit, as well as the pulp/pit ratio, were evaluated. The agronomic features of plants differed among cultivars, standing out the Negroa, which reached the highest yield (18.42 kg plant^-1 and 7.68 t ha^-1) and number of fruits (9,399.08); MGS ASC322, with the largest trunk section; MGS MISS293, with the highest outer crown volume and surface; and MGS JB1, which presented the greatest outer crown surface/number of fruits ratio. Concerning carpometry, the MGS GRAP556 cultivar presented the highest sizes for fruit and pit, while ‘MGS GRAP541’ presented the highest pulp/pit ratio.