Economic assessment of an optimised model of apple rootstock production

Dimo Atanasov, Galya Dobrevska and Manol Dallev

Abstract: A three-year study was conducted on the development of apple clonal rootstocks with somatic organogenesis origin in a stoolbed and different moisture-absorbing polymer quantity in the covering soil layer. An economic assessment of the production process was made based on the specific effects of the moisture-absorbing polymer on the quality of the resulting product. The results from the study show that the M9 rootstock demonstrates an improved rooting with a higher number of roots shoots, as well as, increased revenue when applying the moisture-absorbing polymer in a doze of 3.5 kg/da. The economic benefit from applying the same doze of moisture-absorbing polymer in the case of the MM106 rootstock failed to meet our expectations. The doze of 3.5 kg/da proved to be economically ineffective. The results from the economic analysis demonstrated that the application of such a doze from the moisture-absorbing polymer was not economically feasable in comparison to findings from the alternative doze of 1.5 kg/da.

Keywords: apple rootstocks; economic assessment; moisture-absorbing polymer

Date published: 2021-02-17