Studies on Performance of Newly Released Apple Cultivar on Clonal Rootstocks

Apple (Malus × domestica Borkh) occupies a significant place in the horticultural wealth of temperate zone. The growth and productivity of apple in Indian conditions can be optimised by replacing out-dated  depleted  standard  Delicious  cultivars  by  the  improved  high  yielding  cultivars  and  adopting standard clonal rootstocks instead of seedling stock in addition to improved management practices. The  present  investigation  was  undertaken  to  make  a  preliminary  assessment  for  studying  the performance of newly released apple cultivars viz, Lal Ambri, Sunhari, Shireen, Firdous and Akbar on clonal  rootstocks  M-9  and  MM-106. The  experiment  was  carried  out  at  the  Experimental  Farm  of SKUAST-Kashmir, and was laid out in a randomized block design with ten treatment combinations. The  results  obtained  revealed  that  the  varieties  excepting  shireen  worked  on  MM-106  rootstock resulted in higher plant height, per cent fruit set and fruit retention and the plants which were raised on M-9  rootstock  resulted  in  more  plant  girth  and  plant  spread. Commencement  of  flowering,  fruit maturity, fruit weight and firmness occurred earlier in all varieties worked on M-9. Among these tested varieties, Lal Ambri, Shireen and Firdous developed red colour intensity excepting Sunhari and Akbar. It is concluded that apple trees raised on MM-106 rootstock resulted in higher yield than the trees raised on M-9 rootstock. Cultivar Akbar was better in comparison to other varieties, Lal Ambri showed maximum red colour intensity. Fruits from trees on M-9 rootstock showedhigher red colour intensity. However, Shireen performed better in these parameters on M-9 rootstock.

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