Growing fruit trees in highly alkali soils—a case study
✍ Scribed by G. Singh; J. C. Dagar; N. T. Singh
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 401 KB
- Volume
- 8
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1085-3278
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✦ Synopsis
The performance of 10 fruit species, namely pomegranate (Punica granatum), guava (Psidium guajava), (Achras japota), (Aegle marmelos), (Emblica ocinalis), (Zizyphus mauritiana), (Carissa carandas), date palm (Phoenix dactyleform), (Syzygium cuminii) and (Tamarindus indica), as aected by site preparation and amendment use, was evaluated in a replicated ®eld trial established in 1992 in a highly alkali soil (pH 10 . 5) at the Bichhian experimental farm of the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal. The treatments involved two site preparation methods: (1) augerholes of 20±25 cm diameter and 160±180 cm deep made in the centre of 45 cm  45 cm pits in the main plot and (2) pits of 90 cm  90 cm  90 cm; variable amendments composition in the subplot and fruit species in the sub-subplots. Growth observations recorded 26 months after planting showed that survival, height and girth of all species remained unaected owing to site preparation techniques and amendment use. Irrespective of planting techniques and amendment use, , guava, and performed best. Date palm and performed poorly. Initial growth of was satisfactory, but it was found highly sensitive to frost. Similarly, pomegranate which was performing exceedingly well was found very sensitive to prolonged water stagnation. This 3-year study indicated that out of 10 species tried, about half a dozen fruit plants can be established in alkali soils after following appropriate site preparation methods and better management practices. Established species came to bearing between 18 and 24 months after planting, but the fruits were damaged by prolonged water stagnation during the monsoon season and chilling temperatures of the 1994±95 winter. This study further indicated that the augerhole method of root bed preparation, is an economical, less laborious and faster way of planting fruit trees than is the pit method. The experiment will be continued to study treatment eects on fruit production and quality before making ®nal recommendations.