Evaluation of different apple planting systems in high, mid, and low altitudes of Kashmir Valley

Introduction

Apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.) belongs to the Rosaeceae family and has been classified into the subfamily Pomoideae and genus Malus. Malus species are widely distributed throughout North America, Europe, Asia Minor, and Asia [4].  In India, apple is mainly grown in J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and provides the main source of income in this region of the country. In J&K (UT), Kashmir Valley produces major junk of apples and adds almost 7000 crores to valley’s gross domestic product [18] and is also an employment generator for over 3.5 million people [7]. In recent years, new systems of apple plantation have been tried with little success however still traditional system predominates [12]. These systems have been mainly introduced to fill gaps in productivity and quality as compared to advanced apple-growing regions of the world. In traditional system of the plantation, only 270plants/ha are accommodated however, with the popularization of growth-controlling rootstocks planting density has increased reaching 444 plants/ha using semi-vigorous rootstocks like MM.111, 1333 plants/ha using semi-dwarfing rootstocks like MM.106 and 3333 plants/ha using dwarfing rootstocks like M.9. Area covered under these planting systems is hardly less than 2% of total apple growing area. Huge numbers of recent apple introductions like Gala Strains, Fuji Strains, Red Delicious Strains, Granny Smith, etc. are main cultivars under these systems [10]. A good combination of planting schemes and rootstock can result in a high yield and high-quality apple fruits suitable for the consumer [17]. In recent years, these systems are challenged by a number of edaphic, climatic, pathological and entomological and management factors [1]. In this context, yield and quality parameter of different apple planting systems was evaluated in the high, mid and low lying belt of district Kulgam, an important apple growing belt of South Kashmir. This paper is expected to prevent the unplanned conversion of agricultural land to apple in the future.         

Material and Methods

This study was carried out by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kulgam during the year 2021-22 and 2022-23 on seeing the unplanned and unscientific conversion of agricultural land or traditionally apple-growing land in recent apple growing systems in the last decade (Mubarak et al., 2023). Out of ten horticultural zones of district Kulgam, three zones i.e. Manzgam (33.61⁰N and 74.875⁰E), Kadder (33.71⁰N and 74.999⁰E) and Qaimoh (33.72⁰N and 75.095 ⁰E) representing high, mid and low altitude respectively were selected for the study with a mean altitude of 5705ft above mean sea level.  The sample consists of five orchards covering not less than 0.25 Ha were selected from each zone for data collection. Performance of three main cultivars i.e. V1 (Redlum Gala), V2 (Red Velox) and V3 (Super Chief) grafted on MM.111, MM.106 and M.9 rootstock in three planting densities i.e. D1 (444 plants/Ha), D2 (1333 plants/Ha) and D3 (3333 plants/Ha) was studied. Standardized cultural operations were applied in all the trees under study. The trees were trained on a modified central leader training system. The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomized block design. Two-year data in terms of yield and apple grade was collected in the selected orchards. Yield/tree represents the mean yield of two years while as grades were assigned as per as standard procedure keeping color, size, defect, blemish, disease symptom, physiological disorder and pest scar in consideration. The data were analysed statistically as per the procedure given by Sheoran et al. [14] and are being presented in the table for interpretation of the results.

 Results and Discussion

As evident from Table 1, irrespective of area and planting density, average yield/tree was significantly higher (25.31kg) in the Red Velox apple cultivar as compared to Redlum Gala (23.15kg) and Super Chief (22.89kg). Significantly higher quantities of fancy grade apples were obtained in Red Velox (3.45kg) as compared to super chief (3.20kg) and Gala Redlum (2.23kg). However irrespective of variety and area of cultivation, higher yields per tree were obtained in low planting density (D3) i.e. 31.62kg/tree as compared to other planting densities. Kadder Zone (Z2) outperformed other zones in terms of average yield/tree (25.02). The average yield per tree was higher in Red Velox plants in the Kadder zone (26.35kg) irrespective of planting densities although these values were significantly at par with Red Velox plants in Qaimoh (25.13) and Manzgam (24.46) zones.  Similarly, significantly higher Fancy grade apple were harvested from Red Velox plants in the Kadder zone (4.07kg) as compared to other cultivars irrespective of planting density.  Average yield/tree of low-density Red Velox (32.32kg) was significantly at par with low-density Super Chief (32.38) irrespective of the horticulture zone.  Significantly more quantity of Fancy grade Super Chief apples (4.07kg) was obtained in low-density planting system as compared to other combinations irrespective of area of cultivation although this value was at par with medium (3.96kg) and low density (3.71kg) Red Velox cultivar. As far as the interaction of various factors is concerned, highest average yield per tree was obtained in the low- density Red Velox of Qaimoh zone (34.27kg) although this value was significantly at par with the yields obtained in low-density Redlum Gala of Qaimoh zone (31.87kg), low-density Red Velox of Kadder Zone (32.34kg), low-density Super Chief of Manzgam (32.40kg) and low- density Super Chief of Kadder Zone (33.87kg). Similarly data shown in table 1 reveals that significantly more quantity of Fancy grade was obtained in medium density Red Velox of Kadder zone (5.17kg) as compared to other combinations although significantly at par fancy grade apples were obtained in medium density Red Velox of Manzgam zone (4.92). Variation of yield/tree in different planting density systems in apple has been earlier reported by Dhiman et al. [2], Shrivastava et al. [16], Mir et al. [8], Widmer and Krebs [19]. Decrease in yield/tree (kg) with higher plant densities under the study are in concordance with Shrivastava et al. [16], Rana et al. [11] and Dhiman et al. [2]. Similarly, yield difference of apple cultivars within and across different planting density systems has been reported by Widmer and Krebs [19], Shrivastava et al. [16], Rana et al. [11]. Differences in yield may be attributed to difference in fruit weight, fruit set percentage and other yield-controlling factors. The zonal difference in yield of various studied apple cultivars under different planting systems may be attributed to local microclimatic factors, differences in fruit set percentage, amount of losses in terms of fruit drop, varied spectrum of diseases and pests, edaphic factors etc. Shah et al. [13] also pointed out the difference of apple productivity and quality among various districts and different areas of the same district in J&K (UT) and listed the various contributing factors for this variation. Uselis et al. [17] and Kumar et al. [5] reported a significant difference in terms of yield and marketable fruit traits in different apple cultivars grown on various rootstocks at varied planting distances at various locations.         

From the data in Table 2, more quantity of A-grade apples/tree was obtained in the Red Velox cultivar (14.05 kg) as compared to other cultivars irrespective of planting density and area of cultivation. Similarly, irrespective of cultivar and horticulture zone, higher A-grade apple was obtained in low-density planting system (19.70 kg) as compared to other planting systems. Higher quantity of A-grade apple resulted from the Kadder zone (14.97kg) irrespective of variety and planting density.  As far as interaction of cultivar and the planting density is concerned, significantly higher amount of A-grade apples per tree was obtained in Low-density Super Chief plants (20.83kg). Similarly, interaction values between cultivar and zone from Table 2 reveals that a higher quantity of A-grade apple/tree was obtained in Super Chief of Kadder zone (15.88kg) irrespective of planting density however this value was at par with the A-grade apples/tree of Red Velox of Kadder zone (15.19kg). As far as the interaction of cultivar, zone and the planting density is concerned, higher quantity of A-grade apple/tree was obtained in low density Super Chief of Kadder zone (22.01kg) followed by low density Super Chief of Manzgam zone (21.36kg). Table 2 also shows that the quantity of B-grade apple/trees varied significantly among various studied zones, densities and varieties. Difference in final marketable apple grade among cultivars grown in different planting systems may be attributed to variety, rootstock, canopy size, light interception, disease and pest incidence, and edaphic factors [6, 3, 15].  

Data in the table 3 reveals that the least quantity of C-grade apples/tree was obtained in Super Chief cultivar (2.27kg/tree) irrespective of planting density and zone of cultivation.  Similarly, data in Table 3 shows that irrespective of cultivar and planting density, lowest quantity of C-grade apples was observed in the Manzgam zone (2.16kg/tree) while as high density system resulted in the lowest quantity of C-grade apples/tree (2.23kg/tree). Super chief cultivar yielded lowest C-grade apple in Kadder zone (1.80kg/tree), while as highest quantity of C-grade apple resulted in Red Velox cultivar of grown in Qaimoh zone (4.79kg/tree).

Similarly, irrespective of the zone of cultivation, least quantity of C-grade apple/tree resulted in high-density Super Chief cultivar (1.36kg/tree), while as highest c-grade apple was obtained in low density Redlum Gala cultivar (4.48kg/tree).  As far as interaction is concerned, high-density Redlum Gala in Manzgam horticultural zone produced least quantity of C-grade apple/tree (0.78kg) whereas, highest quantity of C-grade apple resulted from low density Red Velox of Qaimoh Zone followed by low- density Redlum Gala of Kadder Zone.

References

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