Productivity and Fruit Quality of Some Spur Type Apple Cultivars under
a High Density System
J.S. Chauhan L.K. Sharma
Dr. YS Parmar University of Farm Science Centre
Horticulture and Forestry CSKHPKV
Nauni, Solan 173 230 Bajaura, Kullu 175 125
India India
Keywords: rootstocks, fruit yield
Abstract
The productivity and fruit quality of apple under Indian conditions can be
optimized by the use of newer cultivars and size-controlling rootstocks and by
improving management practices. The present studies were conducted on ‘Oregon
Spur’, ‘Well Spur’, ‘Silver Spur’, ‘Starkrimson’ and ‘Red Chief’ grafted on three
rootstocks, EMLA-26, EMLA-7 and EMLA-106 tested under a split plot design with
three replications. The results indicated that maximum fruit set (65.9%), yield (21.4 kg
tree-1) and productivity (47.5 t ha-1) were recorded with ‘Oregon Spur’ during both
years of study. The cultivar grown on EMLA-106 recorded the highest fruit set, yield
and productivity. The best quality fruits were obtained with ‘Red Chief’. Among the
rootstocks, EMLA-106 yielded the better quality fruits in comparison to the other
rootstocks. The studies revealed that the ‘Oregon Spur’ and ‘Red Chief’ grafted on
EMLA-106 rootstock were found to be superior over the rest of the combinations in
terms of productivity and fruits quality and can thus be recommended for growing
apples under high density in the valley areas of North-Western Himalayas.
INTRODUCTION
The northern mountainous states of India do not fall in the temperate zone of the
world. However, the prevailing temperate climate of the region, due to its proximity to the
snow-clad Western Himalayan ranges and high elevation above mean sea level, provides
sufficient chilling making apple production a successful venture in these regions.
The productivity of apple in different hill states varies and ranges from 3.5 t/ha in
Uttaranchal to 6.5 t/ha in Himachal Pradesh and 12 t/ha in Jammu & Kashmir which is
low compared to the world average of 30 t/ha. The major reasons for low productivity can
be attributed to changing climatic conditions, poor soil, steep slopes, lack of irrigation,
traditional orchard management practices and cultivars. The productivity and fruit quality
of apple in Indian conditions can be optimized by adopting improved high yielding
cultivars, standard clonal rootstocks and management practices. At present, most of the
existing apple orchards are on seedling rootstocks. Such trees are variable in size and
vigor resulting in difficult cultural operations. Moreover, such orchards bear commercial
crop after 9 to 10 years resulting in low profit coupled with high production costs. It thus
becomes imperative for the apple growers to improve the efficiency and productivity of
their orchards. The yield per unit area and quality of the fruits can be improved by high
density plantings, which is only possible by the use of size controlling clonal rootstocks.
The rootstocks are known for their specific influence on scion vigor, productivity and
fruit quality, however, no systematic attempt has been made to evaluate the productivity
and fruit quality of spur type apple cultivars grown on clonal rootstocks under Indian
conditions. Hence, the present studies were conducted to investigate the productivity and
fruit quality of spur type apple cultivars under high density plantation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study was conducted at Progeny cum Demonstration Orchard of the State
Department of Horticulture, Annu, District Shimla, Himachal Pradesh during 1998 and
1999. The orchard is located at an elevation of 1375 m above mean sea level. Nine year
Proc. XXVII IHC - Enhancing Econ. & Environ. Sustain.
of Fruit Prod. in a Global Econ. 195
Ed.-in-Chief: J.W. Palmer
Acta Hort. 772, ISHS 2008
old healthy and uniform plants were selected for the present study. The experiment was
laid out in a split plot design using five cultivars, namely, ‘Well Spur’, ‘Starkrimson’,
‘Silver Spur’, ‘Red Chief’ and ‘Oregon Spur’ and three rootstocks, viz. EMLA-26,
EMLA-7 and EMLA-106. The treatments were replicated three times. There were 2222
trees/ha in a 3×1.5 m spacing. Fruit set was recorded three weeks after petal fall and per
cent fruit set was calculated by following the formula given by Westwood (1993). The
crop load from each tree was recorded and yield was expressed in kg/tree. Productivity
(yield in t/ha) was calculated by multiplying the yield per tree with the tree density per
hectare. Fruit diameter and length of ten randomly selected fruits were measured with
vernier calipers. Fruit weight was recorded on a top pan electronic balance. Flesh firm-
ness was determined by a pressure tester (Magness-Taylor). Total soluble solids concen-
trations (SSC) was determined by ERMA hand refractometer (0-32°Brix). Titratable
acidity and reducing sugars were determined by using standard procedures.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The data on fruit set, yield and productivity of spur type apple cultivars showed
that cultivars and rootstocks had a significant effect on the fruiting characteristics of spur
type apples (Table 1). Among the cultivars, ‘Oregon Spur’ recorded a significantly higher
fruit set (65.9%), yield (21.4 kg/tree) and productivity (47.5 t/ha) during the year 1998
which was closely followed by ‘Red Chief’. Similar trend was also observed in the
following year. These results are in line with that of Westwood et al. (1967) who have
observed significant variations in the fruit set among the different ‘Delicious’ strains.
Yield variations among various apple cultivars have been reported by many workers
(Denby, 1982; Archbold et al., 1987; Fallahi et al., 1994).
Irrespective of the cultivars, rootstock EMLA-106 recorded the maximum fruit set
(65.7%), yield (21.9 kg/tree) and productivity (48.7 t/ha) during the year 1998 and similar
observations were recorded in the year for 1999. Lowest values of all these were recorded
under rootstock EMLA-26. Sharma (1989) obtained similar results while studying the
effect of different rootstocks and training system on cropping of ‘Delicious’ apples. There
are many reports, which show that MM-106 is the most productive rootstock in the semi-
dwarfing class (Fisher, 1965; Callesen, 1994).
It is evident from the data presented in Table 2 that cultivars and rootstocks had a
significant effect on the physical quality parameters of apple. The maximum fruit length
(67.9 mm), diameter (75.7 mm) and fruit weight (171 g) were recorded in cultivar ‘Red
Chief’ closely followed by ‘Oregon Spur’ during 1999 and same trend was noticed in the
previous year, whereas, maximum fruit firmness (7.6 kg/cm2) was observed in the year
1998 in cultivar ‘Red Chief’. These marked differences in the physical quality parameters
of cultivars were due to varietal characteristics (Fallahi et al., 1994) and can be attributed
to the genetic make up of the scion cultivar (Sullivan, 1960).
From the data presented in Table 2 it is apparent that among the rootstocks,
maximum fruit length (68.1 mm), diameter (75.2 mm) and fruit weight (165 g) were
recorded under rootstock EMLA-106 during the year 1999. Similar results were also
obtained in the previous year of study. These studies are in conformity with Jindal et al.
(1992) who found better quality fruits from trees raised on MM-106. Fruit firmness (7.7
kg/cm2) was maximum under rootstock EMLA-7 during the year 1998. Higher flesh
firmness of fruits on EMLA-7 may be due to smaller size of fruits on this stock.
A perusal of data in Table 3 shows that different cultivars had no significant effect
on total soluble solids, acidity and reducing sugar contents of fruit during the course of
study. The SSC and reducing sugar contents were also not significantly affected by the
use of rootstocks during both the years of study, whereas the effect of rootstock on fruit
acidity was significant during 1998 only. These results are in line with that of Sozzi et al.
(1981) who reported that apple quality (TSS, acidity, reducing sugars and starch content)
were less affected by the use of rootstocks M-26, M-7, MM-106 and M-9.
From this research we concluded that the ‘Oregon Spur’ and ‘Red Chief’ grafted
on EMLA-106 rootstock are the most promising scion-rootstock combinations for
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improved productivity (47.5 and 44.4 t/ha respectively) and fruit quality of apple under
the mid hill conditions of India, particularly in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
Literature Cited
Archbold, D.D., Brown, G.R. and Cornelius, P.L. 1987. Rootstock and in row-spacing
effect on growth and yield of spur type ‘Delicious’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ apples. J.
Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 112(2):219-222.
Callesen, O. 1994. Performance of ‘Discovery’ apple on M-9, M-26 and MM-106
rootstocks at two densities. J. Hort. Sci. 69(2):305-313.
Denby, L.G. 1982. Performance of six apple cultivars on M-9, M-26 and M-7 rootstocks.
J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 107(1):14-16.
Fallahi, E., Brenda, R.S., Fellman, K.J., Longstroth, M.A., Colt, M.W. and Ketchie, D.O.
1994. Tree Growth and Productivity and Postharvest Fruit Quality in Various Strains
of ‘Delicious’ Apple. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 199(3):389-395.
Fisher, D.V. 1965. Current commercial status of Malling Merton rootstocks in British
Columbia. Proc. Wash. St. Hort. Ass. p.107-108.
Jindal, K.K., Karkara, B.K., Sharma, V.K. and Uppal, D.K. 1992. Evaluation of spur types
and colour strains of apple. p.39-44. In: K.L. Chadha, D.K. Uppal, R.N. Pal, R.P.
Awasthi and S.A. Ananda (eds.), Emerging trends in temperate fruit production in
India. NHB Tech. Commun. Gurgaon.
Sharma, D.D. 1989. Effect of different rootstocks and training system on growth,
cropping, nutrient status and water relation of apple trees. Ph.D. Thesis, Dr. YS
Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, India.
Sozzi, A., Testoni, A., Cobianchi, D. and Faed, W. 1981. The effect of rootstocks on the
quality and storage properties of Stayman Winesap fruits. Annali dell Istituto
Sperimentale perla Fruiticoltura 12:121-123.
Sullivan, D.T. 1960. Dwarf apple rootstocks. Fruit var. Hort. Dig. 14:51-52.
Westwood, M.N. 1993. Plant efficiency: Growth and yield measurements. Temperate
Zone Pomology, W.H. Freeman and Company (San Francisco) p.275-282.
Westwood, M.N., Kadivar, N. and Bjornstad, H.O. 1967. Differences in growth, chemical
content and fruit set among four sports of Delicious apple. Fruit var. Hort. Dig. 21:72-
74.
Tables
Table 1. Effect of different clonal rootstocks on productivity of some spur type apple
cultivars under high density plantation.
Fruit set (%) Yield (kg/tree) Productivity (t/ha)
1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999
Cultivars
Well Spur 53.4 35.4 17.1 11.9 38.1 26.4
Starkrimson 51.3 31.4 18.2 12.9 40.5 28.7
Silver Spur 59.6 38.2 19.1 12.7 42.5 28.3
Red Chief 62.8 34.6 20.0 13.5 44.4 29.9
Oregon Spur 65.9 37.4 21.4 14.7 47.5 32.6
CD0.05 4.07 7.03 1.34 1.30 2.98 2.89
Rootstocks
EMLA-26 51.0 31.0 16.7 11.6 37.0 25.7
EMLA-7 59.2 34.3 19.0 13.1 42.1 29.1
EMLA-106 65.7 40.1 21.9 14.7 48.7 32.7
CD0.05 1.81 3.75 1.15 0.70 2.57 1.57
Fruit set was measured on the basis of flower clusters.
197
Table 2. Effect of different clonal rootstocks on physical quality parameters of some spur
type apple cultivars under high density plantation.
Fruit length Fruit diameter Fruit weight Fruit firmness
(mm) (mm) (g) (kg/cm2)
1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999
Cultivars
Well Spur 58.7 65.5 68.5 74.0 141 165 7.39 6.69
Starkrimson 60.4 63.5 67.3 71.1 125 149 7.49 6.79
Silver Spur 61.6 63.9 69.9 72.4 146 162 7.37 6.67
Red Chief 63.3 67.9 71.2 75.7 150 171 7.64 6.94
Oregon Spur 63.1 67.7 69.3 74.6 143 167 7.57 6.87
CD0.05 2.95 2.26 2.49 2.76 NS 9.17 NS NS
Rootstocks
EMLA-26 58.6 63.1 66.4 71.3 158.30 165 7.35 6.65
EMLA-7 62.7 66.0 70.4 74.2 143.60 158 7.72 7.02
EMLA-106 62.9 68.1 70.9 75.2 121.50 165 7.40 6.70
CD0.05 2.30 1.72 1.56 1.69 9.62 NS 0.29 0.28
Table 3. Effect of different clonal rootstocks on chemical quality parameters of some spur
type apple cultivars under high density plantation.
Soluble solids concentration Acidity Reducing sugars
(°Brix) (%) (%)
1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999
Cultivars
Well Spur 11.3 13.9 0.54 0.57 6.28 6.56
Starkrimson 11.5 14.2 0.65 0.65 6.23 6.29
Silver Spur 11.8 13.5 0.54 0.66 6.30 6.50
Red Chief 11.9 14.0 0.56 0.66 6.41 6.63
Oregon Spur 12.0 14.5 0.62 0.67 6.71 6.58
CD0.05 NS 0.42 NS NS NS NS
Rootstocks
EMLA-26 12.0 14.0 0.54 0.61 6.50 6.68
EMLA-7 11.6 14.2 0.60 0.64 6.36 6.49
EMLA-106 11.6 13.8 0.58 0.67 6.36 6.37
CD0.05 1.81 3.75 1.15 0.70 2.57 NS
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