RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CANOPY DENSITY AND FRUIT-QUALITY OF KIWIFRUIT

The influence of canopy density on fruit quality was investigated duri ng 2 years in two commercial kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa 'Hayward') orchards in Te Puke, New Zealand. One orchard had a history of produc ing fruit which store well, whereas the other tended to have a dense c anopy, and high losses of fruit during coolstorage. In each orchard we adjusted pruning regimes to produce open, or dense canopies, with mea n leaf area index (LAI) values ranging from 3.0 to 5.5. There was a te ndency for vines with dense canopies to have more premature fruit drop and more soft fruit on the vine at harvest; reduced accumulation of d ry matter in fruit during maturation; fruit with lighter, more vivid, more yellow/brown skin; lighter, less vivid, and less green flesh; red uced fruit firmness after long-term storage; increased fruit losses du ring storage because of stem end rots; and fruit with different textur al properties, but similar flavour and aroma. However, in many instanc es differences were found between fruit from the two orchards which co uld not be attributed to variations in canopy density. Although some o f the effects related to canopy density were statistically significant , most were small and probably not of commercial importance.