Shaanxi Conducts Frost Damage Experiments on New Apple Varieties During Bloom

From April 12 to 17, the Shaanxi Agricultural Remote Sensing and Cash Crop Meteorological Service Center, in collaboration with the Yan'an Meteorological Bureau and the Luochuan County Meteorological Bureau, conducted frost damage experiments during the blooming period of new apple varieties (Ruixue and Qincui) at the Luochuan Apple Meteorology Science and Technology Center. The initiative aims to overcome bottlenecks in forecasting and early warning indicators for frost damage in new apple varieties during bloom, providing scientific support for high-quality industry development.

The experiment focused on two primary objectives: obtaining the supercooling point of flower organs for Qincui and Ruixue apples at full bloom through low-temperature stress tests to determine their cold tolerance limits, and establishing frost damage indicators for new apple varieties during bloom by conducting stress tests at different low-temperature gradients based on the lethal temperature for apple blossoms. New artificial climate chambers and intelligent frost-testing boxes were set up in Xi'an and Luochuan to simulate natural low-temperature environments, enabling systematic low-temperature stress experiments on the blooming periods of new varieties such as Ruixue and Qincui.

By measuring indicators such as pollen viability, physiological enzyme activity, anthocyanin, and chlorophyll levels, the experiments analyzed the impact of sustained low temperatures of varying intensities on flower organ damage and physiological metabolism. The goal is to identify the critical temperature and duration of low-temperature damage for new apple varieties.

This research aims to address current challenges in Shaanxi's apple industry, including the inadequacy of frost damage forecasting and early warning indicators for new varieties, as well as difficulties in implementing disaster prevention information. By establishing refined, variety-specific frost damage indicators and defining low-temperature damage thresholds during bloom, the study will contribute to precise disaster prevention, stable production, and quality improvement in Shaanxi's apple industry.