Journal ofFruit and Ornamental Plant Research Vol. 18(2) 2010: 249-254
ASSESSMENT OF AMOUNT OF WOOD FROM
PRUNED APPLE ORCHARDS AS A SOURCE OF
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Jacek Rabcewicz, Pawel Bialkowski
and Pawe l Konopacki
Research Institute ofPomology and Floriculture
Pomologiczna 18, 96-100 Skierniewice, POLAND
(Received September 28, 2010/Accepted November 9, 2010)
A B S T R A C T
The aim of the studies was to assess the amount of wood to be gained during the
pruning of apple orchards. The trials were carried out on the following cultivars of
apple: ‘Jonagold’, ‘Elstar’, ‘Idared’, ‘Jonica’, and ‘Rubinstar’. The chosen orchards in
which the estimations took place had different interrow widths, tree distances and tree
ages. The widths of interrows were from 3.5 m to 4.4 m. The distances between trees
were from 1.5 m to 2.5 m. The ages of the trees were from 4 to 17 years. Pruned
branches were manually collected from interrows along 20 grown trees. The mass of
branches cut from a single tree, and the total mass of wood gathered on 1 hectare of
orchard were calculated. The obtained results showed significant variability from 21%
to 77%, between replications. This variability depended on cultivar and tree age.
According to expectations, the highest amount of cut wood was achieved from the
oldest, 17-year-old trees of the ‘Elstar’ cultivar. The mass of the branches cut from
one ‘Elstar’ tree was from 1.92 kg to 2.43 kg, which means 3.7-4.6 tons of wood from
1 ha of the orchard. Of the 4-6-year-old trees of three cultivars: ‘Rubinstar’, ‘Jonica’
and ‘Jonagold’, grafted on M.26 rootstock,, less wood was achieved from ‘Jonica’
tree – 1.59 kg, on average. The highest wood mass gave ‘Rubinstar’ – 2.27 kg per
tree, on average. Significant differences were observed in different years of the stud-
ies when young trees became older. The most wood came from ‘Rubinstar’ – 960,
1700 and 2050 kg per hectare, in the 4 th , 5 th and 6 th year of the study, respectively. In
the same years ‘Jonica’ gave 780, 630 and 1450 kg/ha, respectively. In middle-aged
orchards with ‘Jonagold’ and ‘Idared’, significantly more wood was obtained after
cutting ‘Jonagold’ trees: 2100, 2000 and 2550 kg/ha, than after cutting ‘Idared’ trees:
780, 1440 and 1350 kg/ha in the 8 th , 9 th and 10 th year ofcultivation, respectively.
Key words: apple orchard, pruning, energy resources, wood from orchard