Studies on fruit drop and cracking in bael genotypes

Abstract

Problem of fruit drop and cracking is one of the most important limiting factors in bael cultivation, which result in high yield loss. Therefore, the investigation was carried out to study the response of different genotypes of bael on fruit drop and cracking. Fourteen genotypes of bael were taken for the study. Fruit drop and cracking was recorded at monthly intervals in all genotypes. Fruit drop was recorded high in month of July in all the genotypes which continued till the harvest and again shows the peak in the month of February. The maximum fruit drop and cracking were found in Pant Sujata and the minimum in Pant Bael 4. The maximum fruit drop was recorded in the month of July and minimum in the month of December. Whereas the maximum fruit cracking was noticed in the month of January and the minimum in the month of July. The maximum total fruit drop and the minimum fruit retention were found in Pant Sujata and the minimum total fruit drop and the maximum fruit retention were observed in Pant Bael 4. The highest yield was r ecorded in Pant Shivani.