Effect of full flowering climate on crop yield of Gevuina avellana Mol.

Gevuina avellana Mol. is a native tree from Chile characterized by a high inter-annual variability in nut yield. The effect of climate during the full flowering period (FFP) in respect to G. avellana seeding behavior was studied from 1999 to 2008, using several clone selections. Average nut yield was 23.5 ± 8.2 kg per year, and annual yield variability was significantly and highly positively correlated with mean daily temperature, and significantly and negatively correlated with total rainfall and wind speed during the FFP. As G. avellana is a self-infertile species which needs cross pollination to form fruits, the climate during this period is likely to have firstly an effect over the intensity of the bees pollination and secondly, therefore, over the subsequent nut yield. Thus, despite some compensation between the crop load and the nut size, there is an overall effect from FFP climate on final NIS yield. This in turn broadly defines the total kernel and oil yield, being the ultimate main commercial objective due to its nutritional and phytotherapeutic properties. The climate during the FFP can exert a great influence on annual nut yield variability. These results are important in understanding the productive behavior of Gevuina, and are useful as selection criteria for its improvement program and for a proper orchard management.