The use of benzyladenine in orchard fruit growing: a mini review.

Plant growth regulators (PGRs) can be well integrated into orchard production systems. Benzyladenine (BA) can be considered to be an endogenous-like compound which provides very little risk to the environment. A precondition of precocious bearing in young trees is the development of a canopy structure which has good cropping potential and this can be achieved by using BA. Fruit thinning with BA in mature trees can result in larger fruit size and increased return bloom the following year. However, the temperature dependence of the thinning response remains a problem to be resolved. The efficiency of PGRs is determined by the physiological age of trees, by the environmental conditions at application and by the application methods used.