Published August 26, 2025 | Version v1
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The influence of fertigation on the productivity of apple varieties cultivated in the southeastern region of Romania

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Research Station for Fruit Growing Băneasa Bucharest
  • 2. ROR icon University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest

Description

Water is an essential factor for sustaining life and plays a critical role in agriculture, a sector deeply affected by climate change and water scarcity. The southeastern region of Romania faces a low pluviometric regime, insufficient to support the optimal development of fruit trees and the achievement of economically efficient yields. In this context, the aim of this study was to analyse the influence of localized fertigation on the yields of two apple cultivars, ‘Florina’ and ‘Idared’ — varieties frequently encountered in local orchards — as well as its impact on key indicators such as fruit weight and the number of fruits per tree, parameters that directly influence productivity. Different irrigation rates (2 and 4 l/h) were applied, combined with a soluble fertilizer at a rate of 20 kg/ha. The experiments were conducted at the Research and Development Institute for Fruit Growing Băneasa, Moara Domnească Experimental Base, under the climatic conditions specific to the year 2024. The results indicate that the ‘Florina’ cultivar recorded the best performance, highlighting the importance of applying an optimized irrigation strategy to maximize production. A significant increase in yield was observed, from 9.70 t/ha under non-irrigated conditions to 14.75 t/ha with the application of 4 l/h drip irrigation combined with fertilization. This difference of 5.05 t/ha demonstrates the positive impact of efficient resource management.

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References

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