The objective of the present work was to study the effect of number of productive branches on the leaf area development and green fig tree yield of Roxo de Valinhos cultivar. The experiment using six year-old plants was carried out between November/2002 and April/2003 at Pesagro-RJ, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ (21º19'23" South latitude, 41º19'40", West longitude, altitude of 20 a 30 m and Aw Koppen climate). The treatments consisted of plants conducted with 16, 20, 24, 28 and 32 productive branches in a randomized block design with five replicates. The LAI incresead linearly in function of productive branches, whereas the yield showed a quadratic response pattern to the treatments, probably, limited by shading in canopy that decrease the fruit bud formation. The highest green fig yield was observed in the treatment which had plants conducted with twenty four branches, where the mean leaf area was 6,2 m².
Ficus carica; green fig; canopy structure; pruning
