IMPACT OF PRUNING INTENSITY AND NUTRIENTS ON GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF BER (ZIZIPHUS MAURITIANA LAMK.) CV. THAI APPLE

Abstract

The investigation was carried out to study the impact of pruning intensity and nutrients on growth, yield and quality attributes of ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.) cv. Thai Apple, with 10 treatments replicated thrice under Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) during 2023-24. The treatments investigated the effects of varying pruning intensities (40% and 60%) combined with nutrient application, including nano urea @ 0.5% and 1.0%, calcium chloride @ 0.5% and 1.0%, and water as a control. The treatment P1F2 (40% pruning + nano urea @ 1.0%) demonstrated the most significant increase in vegetative growth, showing such as a maximum plant height (4.325 m), plant spread (4.113 m), leaf length (8.22 cm), leaf width (4.89 cm), leaf area index (42.22 cm2) and minimum days taken to sprouting (20.90 days). This treatment also led to the highest fruit retention rate (33.03%) lowest fruit drop rate (41.53%) and highest fruit yield (51.02 kg/plant). Additionally, treatment P1F2 was superior in physical parameters viz. highest polar diameter (50.72 mm), equatorial diameter (40.29 mm), fruit weight (50.52 g), and pulp: stone ratio (10.26%). Conversely, the treatment P1F4 (40% pruning + calcium chloride @ 1.0%) was found to be superior in quality attributes, viz. highest TSS (14.03 °Brix), lowest titratable acidity (0.25%), maximum ascorbic acid (24.16 mg/100g fruit pulp), and the highest levels of total sugars (8.94%) and reducing sugars (5.86%), respectively. The study provides valuable insights into optimizing ber fruit growth, yield, and quality through targeted pruning and nutrient management practices.