ZARAGOZA ALMOND ORCHARD: MECHANIZED PRUNING INTERVENTIONS AND SEMI-MECHANIZED CANOPY MANAGEMENT
The video “ZARAGOZA ALMOND ORCHARD: MECHANIZED PRUNING INTERVENTIONS” by agronomist Vito Vitelli documents a working day in an almond orchard trained under the Zaragoza system, located in Montalto di Castro (Viterbo, Italy), on the farm of Fabio Mariotti. This orchard has been followed over time through several technical contributions focused on both canopy management and mechanized harvesting operations. VIDEO The field visit takes place between late October and early November 2025, during the pruning period. In this orchard, during autumn 2024, mechanized pruning was carried out using a cutting bar inclined at 33°, an operation that allowed precise definition of the external profile of the rows. Thanks to this intervention, no external pruning is required in the following season, as the trees are fully benefiting from the vegetative response induced by mechanized cutting. By 3 November 2025, it is clearly possible to observe that the current shoots are the direct result of the mecha...