Effect of pruning on morpho-physiological parameters and microclimate under high density planting of mango (Mangifera indica)

摘要

Pruning is an age-old horticultural practice followed in deciduous and temperate fruit crops such as apple, pear, peach, plum etc., and in few sub-tropical fruits, like grape (Wis vinifera L.), fig (Ficus caricae L.) and phalsa (Grevia subinequalis).Many evergreen fruit trees including mango (Mangifera indica L.) respond to pruning (Davenport 2006) and gainful results have been obtained as well. Architecture and form of a tree varies with cultivars and keep on changing with the tree age, climate, cultural practices, training and pruning etc. The high-density orcharding in some cultivars of mango have been standardized, viz.' Amrapali' (2.5 mx2.5 m) (Sharma and Singh 2006), 'Mallika' (6 mx6 m) and 'Dashehari' (3.0 mx2.5 m) with pruning and also withapplication of paclobutrazol. Nevertheless, the above cultivars showed sharp decline in yield and quality after 10-12 years of fruiting owing to overlapping/intermingling of branches, poor light interception, poor photosynthetic rate, high relative humidity and proneness to diseases and pests etc. (Lai and Mishra 2007). The pruning as a tool is not only to control size but also to maximize yield. Therefore, the present investigation was undertaken to study the effect of pruning on morpho-physiologicaland tree micro-climatic parameters in some common mango cultivars.