Temporal Source Strength Estimation of Sweet Pepper for Crop Management and LED Supplementation Efficiency Improvement

Abstract

The fruit load of sweet pepper (Capsicum annum L.) is high, and if a sufficient amount of photosynthesis cannot be produced, abscission occurs. When considering photosynthesis, it is important to balance the strength of energy sources and sinks. In this study, the amount of light was increased using irradiation by LED. We also investigated whether the source strength could be properly evaluated, based on the prediction of the number of fruits. As result, the yield and the number of fruits in sweet pepper were strongly influenced by source strength. By investigating several parameters related to source and sink strength, it was possible to predict the number of fruit set and the fruit load.