Effect of different pruning intensity on the canopy light distribution andyield and quality in Castanea henryi

Abstract:【Objective】Fruit yield and quality has a close relationship with light exposure of canopy, andimproving light conditions of canopy is one of the important preconditions for fruit quality improvement.Reasonable pruning can improve light conditions of the tree canopy, which is crucial for the balance between vegetative growth and reproductive growth and for a high and stable productivity of the orchard. Thecurrent study examined the effects of different pruning intensities in Castanea henryi on the distribution oflight in the canopy and fruit yield and quality, with an aim to find appropriate pruning intensity for thecrop.【Methods】The experiment was carried out with a randomized block design. Pruning was conducted in the middle of December 2014 on 7-year-old trees of C. henryi cv. Huali 3. Four levels of pruning inten⁃ sity were set up: (1) light pruning (15% clip), (2) medium pruning (30% clip), (3) heavy pruning (45% clip) and (4) no pruning (CK). The data collected were processed using Microsoft Excel 2003, SPSS19.0 and Origin Pro 8.5 mapping. On sunny days in July and August in 2015, the tree crown was divided into 50 cm by 50 cm by 50 cm cubes with bamboo poles. The crown height was divided into three layers, the lower (from the ground