EFFECT OF PROPAGATION METHODS AND PINCHING ON GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY OF CAPE GOOSEBERRY (PHYSALIS PERUVIANA L.)
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Date
2005
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Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu
Abstract
The present investigation on "Effect of propagation methods and pinching on growth, yield and quality of cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.)" was undertaken in the nursery block of division of Pomology and Post Harvest Technology, FOA, SKUAST-J, Udheywalla, Jammu, during 2004-2005. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with three replications. The primary objective of this investigation was to devise a successful propagation method and to identify a pinching height that would optimize productivity and fruit quality. Two propagation methods viz., seedling and cutting and five pinching heights viz., 20 cm, 30 cm, 40 cm, 50 cm and control, were tested in the present studies. The plants raised through cutting showed better performance in respect of growth characters viz., plant height (92.95 cm), number of primary (8.22) and secondary (24.55) shoots, number of leaves per plant (281.99), photosynthetic efficiency (1.45 mg/cm<sup>2</sup>/day) and leaf chlorophyll content (26.47 mg /gm fresh weight) than seedlings. Earlier flowering (71.13 days after transplanting) and picking (50.49 days after fruit set) were also observed in plants multiplied through cuttings. Further it was found that plants propagated through cuttings produced fruits of superior quality (physico-chemical characters) in terms of fruit length (23.00 mm), diameter (25.33 mm) and weight (7.19 gm), number of fruits / plant (43.81), fruit yield / plant (319.17 gm) as well as / ha (31.91 q), total sugars (8.03 %), reducing sugars (5.14 %), titratable acidity (1.50 %), juice percentage (61.67 %), carotenoid content (7.85 mg / gm fresh weight), than the fruits harvested from seedlings. All the pinching treatments reduced the plant height significantly in comparison to control (106.19 cm), however, the plants pinched at 20 cm above the ground reduced the plant height to 72.18 cm. Among the five pinching treatments, the plants pinched at 40 cm height, recorded the highest values for the number of primary (9.45) and secondary (28.11) shoots, number of leaves / plant (321.57), photosynthetic efficiency (1.54 mg /cm<sup>2</sup> / day) and leaf chlorophyll content (33.41 mg / gm fresh weight). The plants pinched at 20 cm plant height took the lowest number of days for the emergence of first flower (75.52 days after transplanting) and first picking (51.57 days after fruit set). Out of all pinching treatments, the fruits
picked from the plants pinched at 40 cm plant height were best in quality in respect of various physicochemical characters viz., fruit length (24.17 mm), diameter (27.00 mm) and weight (9.08 gm), number of fruits / plant (42.80), fruit yield / plant (393.48 gm) as well as / ha (39.34 q), TSS (15.73 %), total sugars (9.98 %), reducing sugars (6.10 %), non-reducing sugars (3.59 %), TSS : acid ratio (12.51), juice content (69.79 %), carotenoids (9.90 mg / gm fresh weight), pectin content (1.70 %) and vitamin C content (79.24 mg / 100 ml juice).
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