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International Journal of Horticulture 2014, Vol.4, No.5, 20
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20
Table 1 Effect of intercrops on initial and full bloom, per cent fruit set and fruit maturity of Apple cv. Red Delicious
Treatments
Initial bloom (days)
after reference date
Full bloom (days)
after reference date
Per cent fruit set Fruit maturity (days from
full bloom to harvest)
2008
2009
2008
2009
2008
2009
2008
2009
T
1
Maize
49.88
50.15
54.70
55.15
5.33
6.12
185.33
187.22
T
2
Pea
43.18
44.44
48.78
49.44
11.88
12.91
178.00
179.50
T
3
Strawberry
48.99
49.89
54.83
55.89
7.34
8.45
183.57
184.79
T
4
Cabbage
49.59
50.82
55.11
56.82
7.20
8.02
183.00
184.21
T
5
Red clover
45.98
44.32
50.28
51.32
10.62
11.88
180.20
182.10
T
6
French bean
47.78
48.22
52.78
53.22
9.55
10.75
182.40
184.50
T
7
Oats
49.70
50.10
54.57
55.10
5.41
6.61
185.80
186.07
T
8
Clean cultivation
(Control)
48.59
50.66
53.99
54.66
8.89
9.70
184.60
185.57
CD (P<0.05)
0.22
0.10
0.88
0.52
0.37
0.28
2.10
2.42
leaves and thus encourages fruit bud formation. In crops
like maize, oats etc., uptake of nutrients gets restricted
as these heavy feeder crops transpire more and extract
huge amount of moisture from the soil, thereby affecting
the nutrient availability and their uptake, and also there
is huge competition for nutrients and little N is made
available to the apple trees. These findings are in
accordance with Kanwar (2000).
Apple trees intercropped with leguminous crops like pea,
red clover and french bean resulted in higher fruit set
and early fruit maturity than with heavy feeder crops
like maize, oats, cabbage, strawberry and control (clean
cultivation) (Table 1). However control (clean
cultivation) recorded more per cent fruit set and early
fruit maturity than heavy feeder crops. This might be
due to the physical improvement of soil which might
have facilitated the development of roots and provided
better conditions for uptake of nutrients. While in case
of heavy feeder crops, due to the competition for
nutrients there will be low nutrient availability to apple
trees which inturn reduces the rate of metabolism,
consequently there will be less synthesis of
carbohydrates and less flower bud formation and due to
the deficiency of nutrients opening of buds occur slowly
taking more time to come into full bloom, thereby
enhancing the number of days to mature fruits. These
results are in conformity with Delip (1967),
Hill-Cottingham and Williams (1967) and Gao et al.
(2013).
Average fruit yield was higher in apple trees
intercropped with leguminous crops than the apple trees
intercropped with control (clean cultivation) and heavy
feeder crops (Table 2). Highest fruit yield was observed
in apple trees intercropped with pea followed by red
clover, french bean, control (clean cultivation),
strawberry, cabbage and oats, while lowest fruit yield
was observed in trees intercropped with maize. This
might be due to the reason that legumes increase the
absorptive capacity of water and nutrient in upper fertile
layers of soils thereby reducing evaporation. They also
maintain slightly higher temperature which could
essentially help in uptake of nutrients and increases the
root concentration on the surface soils. The production
can also be influenced by species, orchard site, pruning
procedures, pests and diseases and above all the
rootstocks. These findings are in congruence with
Neilson and Hogue (1985).
Fruits harvested from apple trees intercropped with
legumes recorded maximum fruit weight and fruit
volume. However, control (clean cultivation) showed
greater fruit weight as compared to heavy feeder crops
like strawberry, cabbage, oats and maize (Table 2). This
may be due to the reason that heavy feeder crops (maize
and oats) compete strongly for moisture and nutrients
with the apple tree as they transpire more water
(moisture), resulting in poor quality fruits while N
fixation by