*2.1. Total Yield and Yield E*ffi*ciency*

According to [14], high yield efficiency is an important characteristic that determines the commercial value of a given cultivar.

The results of the yield per tree evaluated in the field at harvesting time and the yield efficiency are presented in the Figure 1. No significant differences were observed in both parameters for the two studied cultivars (*p* = 0.805 and *p* = 0.657, respectively). Despite no significant differences were

observed in the total yield per tree, 50.1% of the fruits of cv. Early Bigi were harvested already cracked, due to heavy rains during the maturity period (especially the month of April), while no cracked fruits were collected for cv. Lapins. This can be explained by the low rainfall during the month of May (only 0.3 mm of rain). In fact, high rainfall during the maturity period and near the harvest time usually leads to a higher cracking index.

**Figure 1.** (**A**) Yield (kg tree−<sup>1</sup> ) and (**B**) yield efficiency (kg cm−<sup>2</sup> ) of two sweet cherry cultivars (Early Bigi. and Lapins). Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Similar letters indicate no statistically significant differences (*p* > 0.05) between cultivars for each variable, according to Tukey's test.

The yield efficiency also did not present significant differences between cultivars. However, the highest values were observed in cv. Lapins. In a previous work developed by [13], in Slovenia, cv. Early Bigi presented a higher yield efficiency (0.25 kg cm−<sup>2</sup> ) than our trees, which can be explained by the different ages of the trees, different soils, and edaphoclimatic conditions.
