Almond
(Prunus dulcis or Prunus amygdalus) is a tree found in many parts of the world, which
generously offers its wonderful fruits that we enjoy fresh but also dried.
Beyond that, almonds along with their winter flowering send a message of
immense optimism and beauty to the people.
Almond is a deciduous tree that reaches a height of 3-8 m and has simple, lanceolate, toothed and glossy leaves. Its buds are distinguished in woody and flowering ones and its flowers are white or pink in color. Furthermore, its fruits consist of the exocarp, the mesocarp and the endocarp that surrounds the seed.
Almond loves dry and warm climates, without much rain, it is frost-resistant but sensitive to humid
environments which favor infestations of fungi and bacteria. Almonds prefer
medium soils, fertile, with good drainage, although they can also grow on dry
and barren limestone soils, even rocky. Featuring a very powerful and invasive
root system, the almond spreads in depth, absorbing the available amounts of
water and nutrients.
Regarding the establishment of
a new almond orchard we prefer productive almond varieties, with high
percentage of kernel in their fruits as well as late-flowering ones, specially in the northern regions in order
not to destroy their flowers. We are looking for hard or semi-hard almond
varieties, as fluffy are more easily affected after harvest and with
mononuclear fruits which present a low percentage of twin-kernel almonds.
Well-known almond varieties incorporating all the above features are Texas,
Truoito and Ferragnes, planted in squares with a distance of 6-8 m between the
seedlings.
Almond can yield its first
fruits in the 3rd year after its
planting and remain productive until its 70th year, while at the peak stage of
production it comes after its 7th-8th year. The almond yields 4-16 kg of
almonds per tree, the cost of establishing a new almond orchard is around $200
per 1,000 sq.m., and the cost of an almond orchard systemic fertilization, irrigation
and trees protection ranges from $150-$250 per 1,000 sq.m..