Evaluation of ber (Ziziphus mauritiana L.) cultivars under hot arid ecosystem of Rajasthan Shukla Anil Kumar*, Associate Professor, Awasthi O P, Shukla Arun Kumar, Vashishtha B.B., Bhargava R. Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Bikaner – 334006 (Rajasthan) *Corresponding author (Present address), Department of Horticulture, RCA, MPUAT, Udaipur, E-mail anilciah@yahoo.com
Online published on 5 April, 2012. Abstract Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana L.) is an economically important tropical fruit tree which is grown all over the drier parts of the Indian subcontinent for its fresh fruits. There are many cultivars of ber, which have been selected for a number of characters. Cultivars may be known as early, mid or late maturing, depending on whether they produce their fruit early, mid or late in the growing year. This may be an important consideration when selecting which cultivar to grow. The environmental requirements may also differ depending on the cultivar. Based on the observation recorded with respect to plant growth characteristics it was observed that the highest plant height was reported in cultivar Thornless (6.25 m), Gola and Chhuhara,. Maximum pruned wood weight was recorded in Gola (34 Kg), It was observed that the maximum fruit weight was in Umran (50g) followed by Seb (42g) and Gola (35g). The TSS was maximum in Reshmi (28%) and minimum in Thornless (17%). Further, the maximum fruit yield was recorded in cultivars Umran (42kg) followed by Seb (32kg) and minimum in Aliganj (9kg). Based on the performance of the varieties, it was observed that cultivar Gola, Seb, Umran, Banarsi Pewandi, Sanour-5, Rashmi, Mundia and Illaichi were found more promising under hot arid ecosystem. Top |