Effect of vegetative flushing and shoot maturity on flowering, bearing behaviour and fruit yield in litchi (Litchi chinensis) Kumar Rajesh1 1Principal Scientist (Hort.), National Research Centre on Litchi, Muzaffarpur, 842 002, Bihar, India, E mail.: rajeshkr_5@yahoo.com National Research Centre on Litchi, Muzaffarpur, Bihar Online published on 21 March, 2016. Abstract An experiment was conducted to develop an understanding of vegetative and reproductive growth patterns of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) Shahi trees under subtropical conditions at NRC on Litchi, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, during 2009–10 and 2010–2011. Vegetative flushes emerged during July-December were studied for developmental cycle. Growth in the form of flushes occurred in sequential pattern either naturally and/or under forced condition with varied re-growth frequency (extension growth). The flushing and shoot growth pattern were found to influence the overall floriferousness of litchi trees. There was higher percentage of panicle emergence with earlier emerged shoots, while there was a sharp decline in the intensity with the late emerged shoots. July flushes transformed to maximum (up to 90.3 and 84.0%) extent in the panicle-bearing shoots, while tagged flushes emerged during December, particularly could switch over to panicle production to the lowest extent (up to 13.3 and 10.3%), while rest did not bloom. The age of shoot and growth rate was very well monitored by the time of appearance of flushes with the interaction of climatic factors. So, monitoring the appearance of sufficient flushing during July-August, with the gradual decline in flushing capacity from September onwards, not only ensured their maximum contribution in flowering but also caused to give higher fruit setting and fruit yield. The late appearance of flushes gave rise to mixed type of inflorescences, contributing lesser towards flowering and/or sometimes remained vegetative only with reduced flowering and fruit yield. Top Keywords Flowering, Fruit yield, Panicle, Shoot maturity, Vegetative flushing. Top |