1. Effect of fruit thinning on quality and profitability of Kinnow orchards.
- Author
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Fatima, Nergis, Jaskani, Muhammad Jafar, Ahmad, Saeed, and Ahmad, Rashid
- Subjects
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FRUIT quality , *ORCHARDS , *VITAMIN C , *PROFITABILITY , *FRUIT yield , *MARKET prices , *CITRUS , *GRAPEFRUIT , *GROSS income - Abstract
Kinnow is the trademark of citriculture industry of Pakistan and the most important cultivar which is appreciated due to delicious taste and quality. Kinnow is heavy bearer with variable fruit size which fetch low price in market. Fruit thinning is practiced in tree fruits to obtain grade A fruits and overcome alternate bearing. Therefore, this research was planned during 2017-19 to investigate the effect of fruit thinning on quality and profitability of Kinnow mandarin. Fruit thinning was done manually after June drop using the quadratic frame. Four treatments were applied i.e., control (no thinning), retention of 7, 9, and 11 fruits per frame and each treatment had four replications. The results showed that retention of 9 fruit per frame yielded the best fruit size, quality and profitability. The yield and number of fruits per tree decreased due to the fruit thinning but enhanced the fruit quality like juice percentage (68.6%), TSS (10.9 °Brix), TSS:TA ratio (11.3), ascorbic acid (68.8 mg 100 g-1 FW), antioxidant (94.9% inhibition) and phenolic contents (169.8 mg GAE 100 g-1). The yield calculations showed that grade A (38.6%) and B (36.6%) fruits were the highest in treatment having 9 fruit per frame. Benefit cost ratio depicted that 9 fruit per frame although caused 44.56% fruit thinning yet resulted 25% increase in the total income as compared to the other treatments. Hence, fruit thinning practices in citrus have significant effects on fruit physical and biochemical characters and overall orchard profitability based on fruit grading criterion. Kinnow is the trademark of citriculture industry of Pakistan and the most important cultivar which is appreciated due to delicious taste and quality. Kinnow is heavy bearer with variable fruit size which fetch low price in market. Fruit thinning is practiced in tree fruits to obtain grade A fruits and overcome alternate bearing. Therefore, this research was planned during 2017-19 to investigate the effect of fruit thinning on quality and profitability of Kinnow mandarin. Fruit thinning was done manually after June drop using the quadratic frame. Four treatments were applied i.e., control (no thinning), retention of 7, 9, and 11 fruits per frame and each treatment had four replications. The results showed that retention of 9 fruit per frame yielded the best fruit size, quality and profitability. The yield and number of fruits per tree decreased due to the fruit thinning but enhanced the fruit quality like juice percentage (68.6%), TSS (10.9 °Brix), TSS:TA ratio (11.3), ascorbic acid (68.8 mg 100 g-1 FW), antioxidant (94.9% inhibition) and phenolic contents (169.8 mg GAE 100 g-1). The yield calculations showed that grade A (38.6%) and B (36.6%) fruits were the highest in treatment having 9 fruit per frame. Benefit cost ratio depicted that 9 fruit per frame although caused 44.56% fruit thinning yet resulted 25% increase in the total income as compared to the other treatments. Hence, fruit thinning practices in citrus have significant effects on fruit physical and biochemical characters and overall orchard profitability based on fruit grading criterion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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