The use of adapted cultivars to the local conditions is important when establishing citrus orchards to ensure good yield. The sweet orange 'Pêra' [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck] is the most important cultivar to the Brazilian citriculture. The aim of this study was to evaluate three clones of 'Pêra' orange trees from the Citrus Active Germplasm Bank of the Instituto Agronômico do Paraná - IAPAR ('Pêra Vacinada 3' accession I-58, 'Pêra Vacinada 4' accession I-59 and 'Pêra Bianchi' accession I-89) in the edafoclimatic conditions of Londrina, Paraná, Brazil. The plants were budded on 'Rangpur' lime (Citrus limonia Osbeck), spaced 7.0 m x 6.0 m and maintained without irrigation. The evaluations were based on plant yield and physical-chemical fruit characteristics. The clones of orange tree I-58 'Pêra Vacinada 3', I-59 'Pêra Vacinada 4' and I-89 'Pêra Bianchi' presented annual yield per plant during nine crop seasons of 164.10 kg, 133.96 kg e 131.03 kg, respectively. There was no significant difference among the clones for the variables studied during 14 crop seasons. The fruit quality was as follows for I-58 'Pêra Vacinada 3', I-59 'Pêra Vacinada 4' and I-89 'Pêra Bianchi', respectively: fruit mass of 159.6 g, 149.9 g and 150.9 g; soluble solids of 11.16 ºBrix, 10.98 ºBrix and 10.65 ºBrix; titratable acidity of 1.07%, 1.12% and 0.99%; juice content of 50.8%, 52.9% and 49.7%; ratio of 10.6; 10.0 and 10.9; and technological index of 2.31; 2.34 and 2.15 kg of soluble solids per box.
Citrus sinensis; production; soluble solids; acidity
