The Effect of Shading on Fruitfulness and Yield in the Sultana

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Abstract
Two shading experiments on the sultana are described, a preliminary one in which shades of different intensities were used during October and November, and a main experiment in which shades reducing light intensity by about 70% were applied for different lengths of time between October and January. In the season of shading, bunch weight was reduced because of smaller, and possibly fewer, berries by shades of greatest intensity in the first experiment. In the second, shades in position later than 8th December reduced berry size, and yield was depressed when shading lasted for at least six weeks. In the season following shading, fruitfulness and consequently yields were severely depressed where light intensities had been reduced by about 70% for at least four weeks between early November and mid-December. The only other yield component affected was sugar concentration of the berries which was increased where fresh yield was depressed, but not enough to prevent depression of dried yield also. It is concluded that light intensity is an important factor for fruit bud formation in the sultana; reduction of light is inhibitory, but only during the period of inflorescence initiation.

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