Effect of Different Plant Spacing on Growth, Yield and Fruit Quality of Kinnow Mandarin Citrus reticulata in Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan
Effect of Different Plant Spacing on Growth, Yield and Fruit Quality of Kinnow Mandarin Citrus reticulata in Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan
Muhammad Raza Salik1, Muhammad Babar Shahzad Afzal1,2*, Ayesha Komal3, Muhammad Nawaz Khan1, Muhammad Ihsan Ullah4, Faheem Altaf5, Akbar Hayat1 and Hira Tariq1
ABSTRACT
In genus citrus and family Rutaceae, Kinnow mandarin Citrus reticulata Blanco is widely grown edible species in the world including Pakistan. It is enriched with vitamin C and many other phytochemicals that are beneficial for health. In Pakistan, Citrus reticulata occupies the dominant position and it is 85% of total citrus production. The study was carried out at Research farm of Citrus Research Institute, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan during 2012-13 and 2013-14 to see the impact of four different plant spacing (T1: 10` × 10`, T2: 14` × 14`, T3: 18` × 18`, and T4: 22` × 22`) upon various physio-chemical parameters of Citrus reticulata. The experimental design was randomized complete block (RCB). The parameters evaluated were: plant height, plant spread, canopy volume, month wise incremental trend of fruit growth, fruit size, fruit weight, juice weight, juice%, no. of seeds per fruit, peel thickness, TSS, acidity%, TSS/acid ratio, and no. of fruit/plant (yield). Results revealed that plant height, spread and canopy volume was significantly higher in T4 as compared to T1. Fruit of larger size was obtained in 2013 in T4 while in 2012 no such effect was observed. Fruits obtained in the year 1 (2012) did not differ in weight but in the second year (2013) plants of T1 yielded fruits of significantly less weight. Significantly less number of seeds/fruit was found in plants grown at a distance of 10` × 10` as compared to others. Plants grown at 22` × 22` distance yielded more fruits as compared to others with less spacing. Chemical characteristics of Citrus reticulata such as juice percentage, TSS, acidity and TSS/acid ratio were also not affected by variation in plant to plant and row to row spacing. Overall, it can be concluded from these data that reduced plant spacing in citrus such as (10` × 10` and 14` × 14`) might result in poor attributes in some citrus plant and yield characters such as height, canopy, spread and yield. Moreover, chemical parameters of citrus fruit like juice percentage, TSS, acidity and TSS/acid ratio did not vary when plant to plant and row to row spacing was reduced from 22`×22`. However, only one benefit of reduced plant spacing observed was the occurrence of less number of seeds per fruit in T1 as compared to others. Based upon these findings, it is recommended to growers to grow Kinnow plants at spacing of 22` × 22` and 18` × 18` as these treatments resulted in fruitful results in many parameters studied.
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