Such orchards represent the most immediate source of fresh fruit, planting material and forage. Given their location they are the easiest to manage. The basic horticultural practices to ensure long productive life, high yield and improved fruit quality are considered below:
Pollarding and stand thinning. Reducing the plant height will improve future accessibility to fruits, reducing fruit damage during harvest and extending tolerance to handling and transportation.
Pollarding will necessarily postpone production, until the new cladodes reach the reproductive age. Therefore, it should be performed only in part of the plot in alternate years.
Stand thinning is mainly directed to "cuttings" improperly located in the site. New plants in the vegetative stage, generated by cladodes or cladode pieces falling to the ground impede access to adult productive plants. Removing these plants as early as possible will also help to restrain undesirable dispersal.
Reducing the number of plants per unit area will also improve accessibility to plants and fruits and reduce competition among beles plants, thereby improving yield and fruit quality.
Pollarding is suggested as a rejuvenation practice, as such is only performed when the plants have reached more than 2 to 2.5 m in height forcing the use of traditional tools to collect fruits (Plate 18).
Selective pruning and stand thinning. Selective pruning may reduce the effects of alternate bearing (a cycle of one productive year following a year of poor fruit setting, commonly observed in poorly managed beles orchards), increase fruit quality and maintain productivity. Selective pruning aims to reduce the volume of plant canopy, plant height and eliminate deformed or diseased plant parts. It is performed annually. The effects of selective pruning are also enhanced by stand thinning.
