Effect of Different Ethephon Concentrations on Olive Fruits Harvesting at Different Orchard Locations

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine the optimum ethephon concentration on olive fruit harvesting at different Jordan locations. The study was carried out on Nabali olive cultivar at “Irbid and Ajlon” locations. Treatments were consisted of five ethephon concentrations, which are: 0, 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 ppm, each concentration was repeated 4 times. 10 days after ethephon applications, data were collected and analyzed according to the randomized completely block design. Results revealed that all of the used ethephon concentrations promote leaf drop, which remains within the acceptable ranges in both locations. Although, ethephon dosage had significant effects on harvesting productivity at 0.05 levels; best results were obtained by using 3000 ppm concentration at Irbid location, while at Ajlon; best results were observed with treating the olive fruits with 4000 ppm ethephon concentration. On the other hand, positive correlation were observed between the percent of leaf drop and the total harvested fruits.