Fruit set and quality improvement studies on semi-soft pear cv. Punjab Beauty

Abstract

To improve fruit set in pear cv. Punjab Beauty, some chemicals like GA3 (10, 20 and 30 ppm), sucrose (5, 10 and 15%) and boric acid (100, 200 and 300 ppm) were sprayed at two stages; full bloom and petal fall. Fruit set was significantly improved by 4.16% with sucrose (15%) and 3.43% with GA3 (20 ppm) as compared to control. It was higher when these chemicals were sprayed at full bloom stage. However, fruit retention at fruit harvest stage was better with GA3 20 ppm followed by sugar 15 per cent. The same treatments also improved fruit yield significantly by 55.15 and 48.58%, respectively over control. Application of GA3 at 20 ppm reduced the seed number in fruits by 61 per cent over control. All the treatments improved fruit quality in terms of higher TSS and reduced acidity over control. Treatments GA3 20 ppm and sucrose 15 per cent applied at given at full bloom stage proved efficient in improving fruit set and increasing fruit yield.