Effect of chemical thinning on the fruit parameters of ‘Majhoul’ date palm during fruit development
1 Plant Ecophysiology and Cultures of Arid Zones Laboratory, Departments of Horticulture Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine Hassan II. B.P. 121, Ait Melloul 15086, Morocco.
2 National agency for the development of the oasis and Argan zones (ANDZOA), Department of oasis zones. Route Rissani, Erfoud PK 7 RASZ, Morocco.
3 Agricultural materials company (AGRIMATCO), Department of horticultural products. 27 Boulevard Zerktouni, 20100 Casablanca, Morocco.
4 National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA), Research Agricultural Center (CRA) of Draa-Tafilalet. Avenue Moulay Ali Chérif.P. 2 Errachidia principale, Morocco.
Research Article
World Journal of Biological and Pharmaceutical Research, 2023, 05(02), 001–011.
Article DOI: 10.53346/wjbpr.2023.5.2.0069
Publication history:
Received on 31 August 2023; revised on 23 October 2023; accepted on 26 October 2023
Abstract:
The aim of this work was to study the effect of NAA (Naphthalene acetic acid) on the chemical thinning of ‘Majhoul’ date palm in order to use this operation as an alternative to manual thinning, which is a costly operation carried out by the farmers. Experiments were carried out on an adult plantation of ‘Majhoul’ cv in Tafilalet area. Thinning treatments used were T0 (control treated with water), T1 (application of 150 and 300 ppm NAA 30 and 60 days after pollination), T2 (application of 250 and 500 ppm NAA 30 and 60 days after pollination) and T3 (manual thinning performed by the farmer). These treatments were used on three flowering phases of this variety. Obtained results showed that for the early flowering phase, T2 NAA treatment increased fruit drop for 77% compared to the control. Thinning treatments T1, T2 and T3 yielded fruit with larger size (fruit mass of 17.26, 18.51 and 20.88 g respectively) than that of the control (13.67 g). The late flowering phase also gave fruit with larger size (fruit mass of 18.73 g and fruit length of 4.44 cm) than that of the other flowering phases (fruit mass of 17 g and fruit length of 4.34 cm for the other flowering phases).
Keywords:
Date palm; Majhoul cv; Fruit thinning; Naphtalen acetic acid; Fruit drop; Flowering phase; Fruit size
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