Production Technology Of Apple

Horticulture

1. Production technology of Apple AHT-222: Production Technology for Fruit & Plantation Crops SUBMITTED BY MD.TANVIR

2. The apple ( Malus domestica Borkh .) is an important temperate fruit and is grown in areas where winters are cold, springs are frost free and summers are mild. The genus Malus has 25 species. The primary center of origin of apple is thought to be the region which includes the South Western Asia, the Caucasus, Soviet Central Asia and Hindu-Kush Himalayan region. In India, apple was introduced by Captain Lee in 1865 in Kullu Valley of Himachal Pradesh. Later on, red coloured Delicious group varieties were introduced at Kotgarh in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh in 1917 by American missionary Mr Satya Nand Stokes. Apple fruit is rich in carbohydrate (15 %) protein (0.3 %) and nutrients like in K, P and Ca. In India, Apple is grown on commercial scale in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand . It is also cultivated on limited scale in North-Eastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur and Nilgiri hills of Tamil Naidu. Introduction

3. Climate The apple is a typical temperate fruit and is generally grown in the temperate regions of the world. Most of apple varieties require 1000-1600 chilling hours during winter to break the rest period, however some low chill varieties require only 500-800 chilling hours. The average summer temperature should be around 21-24 C during active growth period. Low temperature below 15 C, rains and cloudy weather during bloom restrict the bee activity, which is completely inhibited below 5 C and adversely affect fruit set. The optimum temperature for pollination, pollen germination and fruit setting is 18 to 22 C. The areas with frost free spring and adequate sunshine during summer without wide fluctuation in temperature are most suitable for apple growing. Well distributed rainfall of about 100-125 cm throughout the season is considered most favorable. The long drought spells during fruit development and excessive rains and foggy conditions at maturity hamper fruit size and quality.

4. Soil Apple thrives best in loamy soils, which are rich in organic matter. A soil pH between 6.0 to 6.5 with good drainage and aeration are considered most suitable. The soil should be deep, fertile and free from hard substrates and waterlogged conditions.

5. Varieties Season Jammu and Kashmir Himachal Pradesh Uttarakhand Early season Irish Peach, Benoni Tydeman’s Early Worcestor (P), Michael, Mollies Delicious, Schlomit , Starkrimson , Anna Early Shanburry(P),Fenny, Benoni, Chaubattia Princess Mid season American Mother, Razakwar , Jonathan(P) Cox’ Orange Pippin(P), Queen’s Apple, Rome Beauty, Scarlet Siberian Starking Delicious, Red Delicious, Rich-a-red, Vance Delicious, Top Red, Lord Lambourne(P) Red Chief, Oregon Spur, Red Spur, Red Gold(P), Silver Spur, Scarlet Gala, Well Spur, Super Chief, Scarlet Spur. Red Delicious, Starking Delicious, Mclntosh (P), Cortland, Golden Delicious(P) Late season King Pippin, American Apirouge, Kerry Pippin, Lal Ambri, Sunheri Chamure, Golden Delicious(P), Red Delicious, Ambri, Baldwin, Yellow Newton(P), Golden Delicious(P), Yellow Newton(P), Winter Banana, Granny Smith(P), Red Fuji, Coe Fuji Rymer , Buckingham(P)

6. Spur types and colour sports:  Red Chief, Oregon Spur-II, Silver Spur, Well Spur, Red Spur, Super Chief, Starkrimson , Hardi Spur., Schelet Spur, Ace Spur Standard colour mutants:  Vance Delicious, Top Red, Skyline Supreme, Hardiman, Bright-N-Early. Standard varieties:   Starking Delicious, Red Delicious, Rich-a-red Low chilling varieties:  Michal, Schlomit , Anna, Vered , Tamma , Tropical Beauty and Parlins Beauty. Pollinizing varieties:  Golden Delicious, Red Gold, Tydeman’s Early Worcester, Summer Queen, Golden Spur, Granny Smith, Winter Banana, Mclntosh , Scarlet Gala and flowering crabs like Manchurian, Snow Drift and Malus floribunda. Scab resistant varieties:  Prima, Priscilla, Sir Prize, Florina, Flrdous , Shireen, Macfree , Coop-12, Coop-13, Liberty and Freedom. Hybrid Varieties:  Lal Ambri (Red Delicious x Ambri ), Sunheri ( Ambri x Golden Delicious) Chaubattia Princess and Chaubattia Anupam (Early Shanburry x Red Delicious), Ambred (Red Delicious x Ambri ), Ambrich ( Richared x Ambri ), Amroyal ( Starking Delicious x Ambri ).

7. The apple plantations are raised on seeding rootstocks. Apples are propagation on seedlings of crab apple or self-pollinizing varieties, Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Yellows Newton and Northern spy having good seed viability, germ inability and seedling growth. The seeds of commercial varieties from fruit juice canning units are also used by nurserymen for raising seedling stocks. Seedling rootstock  Apple seeds need stratification in moist sand at 4-7 C for 60-90 days. The water-soaked seeds are placed between 2 and 3 cm thick layers of moist sand in wooden boxes or polythene bags during December. The stratification boxes or bags are placed in cool place where the required chilling temperature of less than 7 C for 1,000-1,500 hr is met in 60-90 days. The sand is kept moist during stratification. Sowing is done in rows 10 cm apart with the spacing of 5 cm between the seeds and 2-3 cm deep. Nursery beds should be irrigated after sowing and covering with 10 cm hay or pine needle mulch to protect the germinating seedling from heavy rains and spring frost. Mulch when the seedlings are 5 cm long for the straight upright growth of seedlings. One-year-old seedling stocks are ready for grafting during February-March. Propagation and Rootstocks

8. Clonal rootstocks The size-controlling clonal rootstock of apple is mound layering (stooling). The rooted layers of the clone are planted in well-prepared stool beds during winter at a distance of 30 cm in the row and 60 cm apart. The 3-4 years old layers give rise to numerous suckers during spring. The suckers are covered with the soil before monsoon. The suckers are ringed or notched near the base during the rainy season and covered with soil to encourage rooting. The difficult-to-propagate rootstocks like M 9 need the treatment of 1,000-2,000 ppm IBA at the notched portion for quick root initiation. The rooted layers are separated to the onset of dormancy (December) and lined out in nursery beds for further grafting with scion varieties during February-March. The rootstock should be healthy and disease-free and should attain the thickness of 0.9-1.25 cm at grafting eight for proper bud-take success. The growth of the rootstock should be straight and upright with proper root development. There should be no gall, knot or injury scar at the grafting height. Tongue grafting is the ideal method of grafting scion cultivar on the rootstock with more than 90% bud take success. The scion should be grafted 15-20 cm above the ground level. February-March is most suitable time of tongue grafting. It should be just before the bud-break. In tongue grafting, a slant cut is made on the rootstock 2-3 cm ling across the stem about 15-20 cm above the crown. A vertical cut is given from one-third of the top of slant cut and extended up to two-thirds of the length of slant cut. Similar cuts are made on the scion wood and the 2 parts are connected by inner locking the tongues made by vertical cuts on scion and stock. The cambium of the 2 portions should match for successful graft. The graft union is wrapped with polythene wrapping should be removed.

9. Fruit crop Scion/variety Rootstock Tree size Spacing (m) Density (trees/ha) Apple Standard Seedling Vigorous 7.5 x 7.5 178 Standard MM111 and Merton 793 Semi vigorous 6.0 x 6.0 278 Standard MM106, M7 Semi dwarf 4.5 x 4.5 494 Standard M9 and M26 Dwarf 1.5 x 1.5 4444 Spur type Seedling Semi vigorous 5.0 x 5.0 400 Spur type MM111, Merton 793 Semi dwarf 3.5 x 3.5 816 Spur type MM106, M7 Dwarf 3.0 x 3.0 1111 Spacing and planting density

10. Planting season Planting is usually done in the month of January and February. Spacing The average number of plants in an area of one hectare can range between 200 to 1250. Four different categories of planting density are followed viz. low (less than 250 plants/ha.), moderate (250-500 plants/ha.), high (500-1250 plants/ha.) and ultra high density (more than1250 plants /ha.). The combination of rootstock and scion variety determines the plant spacing and planting density/unit area. Planting Method Square or hexagonal system of planting is followed in the valleys whereas contour method is usually followed on the slopes. Plantation of pollinator species in between the main species is essential for proper fruit setting. For establishment of an orchard having Royal Delicious variety, plantation of Red Delicious and Golden Delicious as pollinators is recommended by the Horticulture Department. In the month of October-November, pits of size 1 x 1 x 1 m are prepared for planting. In each pit, 30-40 kg of FYM, 500 g. of Single super phosphate and 50g of Malathion dust are added after mixing properly. After about a month the planting is done. One irrigation should be provided immediately after planting. Planting Season, Spacing and planting Method

11. Apple trees are particularly sensitive to low soil moisture. Water stress during the growing season reduces number and size of fruits, and increases June drop. Success of apple largely depends on uniform distribution of rain during the year in case of dry spells during the critical periods supplementary irrigation should be provided. Water stress conditions results in poor fruit set, heavy fruit drop, low production and poor quality. The most critical periods of water requirement are April- August and peak water requirement is after fruit set. Normally the orchards are irrigated immediately after manuring in the month of December-January. During the summer periods, the crop is irrigated at an interval of 7-10 days. After the fruit setting stage the crop is irrigated at weekly intervals. Application of water during the fortnight preceding harvest markedly improves the fruit colour. Thereafter till the onset of dormancy, irrigation is given at an interval of 3-4 weeks. Irrigation

12. Farmyard manure @ 10 kg/ year age of tree is applied along with other fertilizers. The ratio of N, P and K which is applied in an orchard of optimal fertility is 70:35:70 g/year (age of the tree). After 10 years of age, the dose is stabilized at 700:350:700 g of N, P and K /year. The standard fertilizer dose of N, P and K in an “off” year (when the crop load is low) is 500 g, 250g and 400 g, respectively. On some trees deficiency of zinc, boron, manganese and calcium may be observed which is corrected with the application of appropriate chemicals through foliage spray. Manures & fertilizers

13. Application of glyphosate @ 800 ml/ha or Gammaxone /Paraquat (0.5%) as post emergence herbicide suppresses weed growth for 4-5 months . Intercrops Green manuring crops viz. sunflower and bean may be cultivated in the early years of plantation in order to improve soil texture and nutrient status of soil Interculture

14. Training and Pruning Timely pruning and training operation is essential for proper growth and good productivity. The plants are trained according to growth habit and vigour of the rootstocks. The standard trees are trained on modified central leader system so that plants receive proper light. This improves fruit colour and also minimizes the effect of heavy snowfall and hail. Spindle bush system is suitable for high density planting under mid hill conditions. Pruning is essential to maintain a proper balance between vegetative growth and spur development. Proper pruning of weak and undesirable branches/twigs is necessary after six years of plantation.

15. Normally the apples are ready for harvest from September-October except in the Nilgiris where the season is from April to July. The fruits mature within 130-150 days after the full bloom stage depending upon the variety grown. The ripening of fruits is associated with the change in colour, texture, quality and the development of the characteristic flavour . The fruits at the time of harvest should be uniform, firm and crisp. The colour of the skin at maturity ranges from yellow-red depending on the variety. However, the optimum time of harvest depends on fruit quality and intended period of storage. Due to the introduction of dwarf rootstock hand picking is recommended as it reduces bruising due to fruit fall during mechanical harvesting. Harvesting

16. The apple tree starts bearing from 4 year onwards. Depending on variety and season, a well managed apple orchard yields on an average 10-20 kg/tree/year. The average yield of different apple varieties in the state of Uttaranchal is very low (5-6 tonnes /ha.) as compared to that in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir which is around 11-13 tonnes /ha Yield

17. Woolly aphid  ( Eriosoma lanigerum ) Symptoms of damage Nymphs and adults suck the juice from bark of the trunk or fruits Weakening and death of the smaller plants Management Use resistant root stocks M 778, M 779, MM 14, MM 110, MM 112 Spray dimethoate 30 EC 0.06% or methyl demeton 25 EC 0.025% San Jose scale ( Quadraspidiotus perniciosus ) Symptoms of damage The infested region in bark becomes reddish pink Purple discolouration on fruits. Management Summer spray with phosalone 50 EC 0.05% or fenitrothion 50 EC 0.05% Winter spray with diesel oil emulsion at 8-12 l/ tree ( diesel oil 4.5 l, soap 1 kg, water54 -72 l) Insect-pests

18. Scab ( Venturia  inaequalis ) Symptoms Symptom appears on leaves and fruits. On lower side of the leaf lesion appear as olivaceous spots which turn dark brown to black and become velvety. On young foliage, the spots have a radiating appearance with a feathery edge. Management Clean cultivation, collection and destruction of fallen leaves and pruned materials in winter to prevent the sexual cycle. Spray Tridemorph 0.1% before flowering. Spray Mancozeb 0.25 % at bearing stage.2. Fire blight ( Erwinia  amylovora )  Symptoms The initial symptom usually occurs on leaves, which become water soaked, then shrivel turn brownish to black in colour and fall or remain hanging in tree. Management Removal and destruction of affected parts Spray with streptomycin 500 ppm Diseases

19. Thanks