Management strategies to reduce catfacing in peaches

Researchers studied six under-tree vegetation-free strip widths and supplemental irrigation in years 4-8 of a young peach orchard to determine effects on peach tree growth and fruit yield, harvest maturity, and fruit size. Immature fruit samples were collected during thinning in years 4-6 to determine the effect of treatments on the incidence of hemipteran insect damage (catfacing). Results demonstrated that increasing vegetation-free strip width under trees had beneficial results for peach trees and fruit.