Effect of Application of Volk Oil on Physiological, Yield and Quality Characteristics of Pistachio Fruit

To find the effects of spring foliar application of Volck® mineral oil and its combination with fertilizer on the physiological, yield and quality characteristics of pistachio fruit, this research was done in the form of a randomized complete block design (RCBD) of 12 treatments and 3 replications on Ohadi pistachio cultivar in Chatrud of Kerman in 2006 and 2007 for a duration of two years. The applied treatments included: T1 (Volck® mineral oil: 0.2%), T2 (Volck® mineral oil: 0.5%), T3 (Volck® mineral oil: 0.3 + fertilizer A: 0.2%), T4 (Volck® mineral oil: 0.5% + fertilizer A: 0.2%), T5 (Volck® mineral oil: 0.3% + fertilizer c: 0.4%), T6 (Volck® mineral oil: 0.3% + fertilizer D :0.4%), T7 (Volck® mineral oil: 0.3% + fertilizer B: 0.2%), T8 (fertilizer A:, 0.2%), T9 (fertilizer C: 0.4%), T10 (fertilizer D: 0.4%), T11 (fertilizer D: 0.2% on the 30th of April), T12 (fertilizer D: 0.2% on the 20th of May) and T13 (control). The foliar application in each treatment was done within two times (the 30th of April and 20th of May of 2006 and 2007) with the recommended concentration for each fertilizer on a number of 5 pistachio trees for every treatment. Following the second foliar application, some echophysiological characteristics were assessed. These characteristics included the photosynthetic rate, leaf transpiration temperature, chlorophyll fluorescence, amount of chlorophyll (a, b), leaf length, and width, number of leaflets, ounce, percent blankness, early splitting as well as cracked nut percentage, weight of 100 nuts, whole product yield, leaf copper, iron, manganese, potassium, zinc and phosphorus contents. The results revealed significant differences among the treatments in most of the measured characteristics at a 5% level of confidence. Also results revealed that application of the applied fertilizer alone improve the qualitative and quantitative trails of the product. Using Volck® mineral oil in 0.3 and 0.5% concentration decreased the photosynthesis rate and quality of the product.