Evaluation of aonla germplasm for growth, yield and quality attributes in hot arid ecosystem

Abstract

The performance of different commercial varieties of aonla was assessed under hot arid condition viz., Krishna, Kanchan Chakaiya, NA-6 NA-7, NA-10 and Anand-1. Observations with respect to growth parameters were taken during the month of June where as fruit characters were recorded at the time of harvesting in December. The plant height was maximum in NA-7 (3.46m) and minimum in Anand-1 (2.1m). Canopy spread of the tree in East-West and North-South directions varied from 2.75-4.0m and 4.20-3.0m respectively. The maximum plant girth was recorded in NA-6 (125 cm). Length of determinate shoot varied from 7.6 cm to 16.6cm and the range of leaf size was from 1.3-1.8 cm in different varieties. Maximum fruit size was observed in Krishna (3.92x4.60cm) and minimum in Kanchan (3.31x3.80cm). However, fruit weight varied from 30.16 to 48.3g depending on cultivar and it was maximum in Krishna (48.3g) and minimum in Kanchan (30.16g). total pulp weight was maximum in Krishna (45.6g) and minimum in Kanchan (28.77g) the size of stone was maximum in Krishna (2.45x1.48 cm). There were significant variation with respect to stone weight and different cultivars of aonla, which varied from 1.39 to 2.34g. Besides, there were significant variation with regards to yield, vitamin-c, juice content, TSS, dry matter and acidity in different cultivars. However, overall performance of the different cultivars that NA-7, Chakaiya, NA-6 and Krishna are promising for cultivation in hot arid ecosystem.