Impact of Crop Load on Growth, Flowering and Fruiting in Apple cv. Gala Redlum

This study assesses the influence of varying crop loads on growth, return bloom and fruiting traits with a focus on trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA)in High-Density Apple Cultivar Gala Redlum, Study was conducted at the experimental field of the Division of Fruit Science, SKUAST-Kashmir, during 2021-2022.The experiment, organized in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications, utilized 4-year-old "Gala Redlum" plants. The trees were hand-thinned to 4, 6, 8, 10 fruits per cm2 of TCSA, with a control group undergoing no thinning. Results indicated that the highest values for annual shoot length (36.40 cm), return bloom (111.50 flower clusters/tree), fruit length (68.49 mm), fruit diameter (75.07 mm), and fruit weight (191.62 g) in the C2 treatment (4 fruits per cm2 of TCSA). Following closely, the C3 treatment (6 fruits per cm2 of TCSA) exhibited substantial values for the aforementioned parameters. Furthermore, the S2 treatment (10-12 cm2 TCSA) recorded maximum annual shoot length (30.63 cm), return bloom (64.13 flower clusters/tree), fruit length (61.74 mm), fruit diameter (69.18 mm), and fruit weight (168.16 g). Notably, the combined treatment C2xS2 yielded the highest return bloom (114.00 flower clusters/tree) and fruit characteristics (fruit length, diameter, and weight)

Standardization of Cultivation Practices of Kod (Kutaki, Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth.): An Endangered Medicinal Plant Species of Kashmir Himalaya, India

Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth (Scrophulariaceae) is a small creeping herbaceous alpine species commonly known as Kod or Kutaki, used by local and tribal people for curing fever, asthma, jaundice, stomach ache, indigestion, common fever and bronchial asthma. This has resulted in the loss of biodiversity of the species. Roots of P. kurroa have been used in traditional medicine for years for treating various kinds of diseases. The species has been ruthlessly harvested from the wild source and has become endangered. In the present investigation, an attempt was made to standardize the cultivation practices using organic manures and inorganic fertilizers in P. kurroa. The experiment comprised of 28 treatments {M1P0N0, M1P0N1, M1P0N2, M1P1N0, M1P1N1, M1P1N2, M1P2N0, M1P2N1, M1P2N2, M2P0N0, M2P0N1, M2P0N2, M2P1N0, M2P1N1, M2P1N2, M2P2N0, M2P2N1, M2P2N2, M3P0N0, M3P0N1, M3P0N2, M3P1N0, M3P1N1, M3P1N2, M3P2N0, M3P2N1, M3P2N2 and M0P0N0} with three replications each, including one control treatment. The dry root weight recorded by the application of poultry (20 tonnes ha-1), sheep (25 tonnes ha-1) and farm yard manure (25 tonnes ha-1), was 533.60, 509.60 and 476.70 kg ha-1, respectively. Dry root yield increased significantly with increasing levels of phosphorus (453.6 to 550.4 kg ha-1), and nitrogen (444.8 to 565.6 kg ha-1)   as well. Application of organic manure and higher levels of inorganic fertilizers resulted in increase in the root weight with maximum dry root biomass of 640.00 kg ha-1 was observed in treatment M1 P2 N2 (20 tonnes of PM, 100 kg P and 150 Kg N ha-1) compared to the lowest dry yield of 328.0 kg ha-1 as observed in control treatment M0P0N0  (zero tonnes of FYM, 0 kg P and 0 kg N ha-1), although the effect of their interaction was non-significant. It is concluded that highest dry weight of root (692.80 kg ha-1) in P. kurroa was obtained by the application of phosphorus @ 100 kg ha-1 as compared to various organic manures or/different levels of nitrogen used and among the organic manures used viz. poultry, sheep and farmyard manure, the highest root biomass of   533.60 kg ha-1 was recorded by the application of poultry manure. Since the species in Kashmir Himalayan region is endangered but has high commercial demand, hence immediate conservation measures are needed to protect the species from extinction

Effect of Crop Load on Yield and Quality Parameters in Apple cv. Gala Redlum

The present study was conducted at the experimental field of the Division of Fruit Science, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir during the year 2021-2022. The primary objective of this study was to assess the impact of varying crop loads on the growth, yield, quality, and return bloom of Gala Redlum apples, with specific emphasis on trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA). The experimental design involved a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications, utilizing 4-year-old Gala Redlum plants. The trees were subjected to manual thinning, resulting in crop loads of 4, 6, 8, 10 fruits per cm² of TCSA, with a non-thinned control group. Notably, the maximum fruit yield (18.52 kg/tree) was observed in the control group (no thinning), while the minimum yield (7.57 kg/tree) was recorded in the C2 group (4 fruits per cm² of TCSA), followed by C3 (11.03 kg/tree). Furthermore, the impact of different TCSA ranges on fruit yield was statistically significant. The maximum fruit yield (14.45 kg/tree) was observed in the S2 group (10-12 cm² TCSA), while the minimum yield (12.16 kg/tree) was noted in the S1 group (8-10 cm² TCSA). Yield efficiency, measured as yield per unit of TCSA, reached its highest (1.838 kg/cm²) in the control group and is lowest (0.766 kg/cm²) in the C2 group (4 fruits per cm² of TCSA). The results further revealed that the C2 group (4 fruits per cm² of TCSA) exhibited the maximum Total Soluble Solids (TSS) content (14.73 °Brix), total sugars (11.62%), and TSS: Acid ratio (61.45). Similarly, the C3 group (6 fruits per cm² of TCSA) demonstrated elevated TSS (14.20 °Brix), total sugars (10.99%), and TSS: Acid ratio (54.66). Additionally, the S2 group (10-12 cm² TCSA) recorded the highest TSS (13.75 °Brix), total sugars (10.51%), and TSS: Acid ratio (50.53). The combination of C2S2 and C3S2 treatments exhibited superior results, with the highest TSS (14.82 °Brix), total sugars (11.77%), and TSS: Acid ratio (62.64). Fruit firmness (8.81 kg/cm²) and fruit acidity (0.327%) were maximized in the C1S1 treatment combination

In Vitro Prevention of Browning in Persian Walnut (<i>Juglans regia</i> L.) cv. Sulaiman

The present investigation was undertaken to standardize the media and the anti-browning regime in order to minimize the phenolic browning of an in vitro culture of Persian walnut cv. Sulaiman. The experiments involved two types of explants, forced and unforced shoot tips, two types of media, Driver and Kuniyuki Walnut (DKW) medium andMurashige and Skooģs (MS) medium, and three types of anti-browning agents, namely, Polyvinylpyrrolidone, ascorbic acid and activated charcoal at 150, 350 and 550 mg/L each. The investigation was replicated thrice under a completely randomized design. Forced shoot tips of cv. Sulaiman on DKW medium showed the best performance in terms of least browning (13.6 ± 10.5%) and highest survival percentage of explants (74.5 ± 2.4%) when treated with ascorbic acid at 550 mg/L. However, unforced shoot tips in MS medium did not perform well and manifested maximum browning (52.9 ± 5.2%). Based on the results, we conclude that incorporation of ascorbic acid in the DKW medium significantly reduced the media and explant browning, thus, it could set the basis of successful in vitro-propagation of walnuts