Abstract:

From the climate data of 145 meteorological stations in Sichuan from 1981 to 2010, combing with the climate characteristics of the late-maturing citrus growing regions and the citrus tree status, the critical influencing factors on late-maturing citrus were analyzed. Eight environmental variables, including annual mean temperature, ≥10℃ accumulated temperature, frost-free period, July mean temperature, January mean temperature, sunshine hours, precipitation and altitude, were confirmed to be the climatic regionalization indices for Sichuan late-maturing citrus. Using GIS spatial interpolation, the climate elements and zoning index weight were calculated. Two meteorological disasters of late-maturing citrus during the growth period, such as the winter freezing injury and disaster elevated temperatures, were selected to conduct further zoning. The results show that the most suitable region of late-maturing citrus in Sichuan is with the altitude ranging from 400-700 m, and with gentle terrain slopes. The tolerable altitude for late-maturing citrus could be as low as 150-250 m and as high as 900-1200 m. The plateau and mountainous regions with the altitude more than 1200 m are unsuitable for late-maturing citrus growing.

Key words: Sichuan, late-maturing citrus, eco-climate, suitability zoning, GIS, disaster risk