The Effect of Artificial Pollination and Growth Regulator Applications on Olive Trees under Mexican Desert Conditions

Olive production in Mexico is about 30,000 tons annually and major problems in this arid region are pollination and fruit set. A study was carried out to evaluate the response of the artificial pollination (AP) and growth regulator application on productivity in olive trees. The trial was conducted under desertic conditions at Caborca, Sonora, Mexico during 2007. In this experiment we used a seven-year-old 'Manzanillo' olive orchard with 200 trees/ha under a drip irrigation system. For the AP we used pollen from 'Sevillano' (two applications 3 and 5 April) with total dose of 70 g/ha.  Two applications (29 March and 10 April) of the growth regulator Bioforte were used. The results showed that the AP increased the olive yield and decreased the shotberry incidence without affecting olive quality. The yield obtained using artificial pollination was of 2464 kg/ha  vs. 1273 kg/ha in trees not pollinated. Bioforte did not affect yield or olive quality.