Almond (Prumts dulcis Mill.) is an important nut fruit commanding widespread popularity throughout the world. Almond kernels aie rich in oil, proteins, minerals and vitamins (Kester and Asay, 3), and are highly valued for its dietetic, cosmetic and pharmaceutical qualities. In India, almonds are mostly grown as seedling plantation in hilly areas of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Efforts were made to explore the possibilities of growing almonds under sub-tropical climatic conditions of northernplains (Uppal et al., 7). A number of exotic almond cultivars were introduced. A number of varieties selected from the seedling population in Tammu & Kashmir were also planted (Chanana et al., 1). Almond improvement programme was initiated in 1970 at the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana to develop almond varieties suitable for cultivation in the sub-tropics of North India. One of the hybrids obtained from the cross Thin shelled x Sloh, tested under the name 'Almond Hybrid 15', has been found to be quite promising in view of its high productivity and good quality (Nijjar, 4). Thus, the present studies were carried out to study the relative performance of some selected almond varieties for cultivation in the arid-irrigated region of Punjab.
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