summer pruning on seedless barberry: preliminary results on alternate bearing behavior

Purpose: barberry (berberis vulgaris l.) fruit is an important sourceof anthocyanin supplying for consumption and in medicine. the fruitproduction is not regular, and based on previous studies, showsstrong biennial bearing habit. research method: the presentresearch was conducted during 6 consecutive years to evaluate theeffects of summer pruning intensities on alternate bearing index(abi), new shoot growth, total carbohydrate within shoot and leaftissues, 100 berry fresh weight, and juice anthocyanin content.pruning treatments were done as topping the one-year old shoots inmay as followed: removing 0 bud (unpruned or control), 10 budsand 20 buds via topping the mentioned shoots. findings: datashowed that summer pruning that removed 10 buds via shoottopping increased the induction of new shoot growth (current shootproduction), carbohydrate accumulation within shoot tissues, 100berries fresh weight and anthocyanin content within berry juice. onthe other hand, the lowest and the highest abi were observed in 10-buds removing and un-pruned trees, respectively. finally, it isconcluded that summer pruning might be considered as a good toolto mitigate alternate bearing habit of this valuable tree, specificallydecreases canopy transpiration via lower leaf area during hotperiods of the season. research limitations: during the experiment,there was no considerable limitation. originality/value: the presentresearch increases the possibility of how coping with alternatebearing in seedless barberry orchards. it is clear that the changingmanagement methods might be helpful decreasing bearing habits ofthis plant.