Current Horticulture

The evaluation of 116 half-sib progenies of sapota (Manilkara zapota Royen) var. Cricket Ball was carried out for 6 years (2017-2022), at ICAR-IIHR,Bengaluru to develop a promising variety characterized by dwarf growth habit, high productivity, and quality fruits. All the progenies were evaluated for growth, yield, fruit, and biochemical parameters. Correlation among different yield-contributing traits in half-sib progenies revealed that yield was strongly correlated with the number of fruits (r=0.945) while the tree height showed a positive and significant correlation with tree volume (r=0.904) and tree spread (r=0.854). Regression analysis indicated a strong positive relationship between yield and both fruit weight and the number of fruits/tree. Half-sib progenies were grouped into seven clusters based on Euclidean distance, with the S-63 forming a separate single cluster with all desirable traits. Among half-sibs, one half-sib line, S-63, with desirable traits has been identified, multiplied and further evaluated in a row trial with Cricket Ball as the control for three years (2020-2022). In row trial, the progeny S-63 recorded a low tree height (1.95 m) and a high yield (90.21 fruits/tree), compared to Cricket Ball which recorded a tree height of 2.15 m and a yield of 10 fruits per tree at the sixth year. The average yield of S-63 was higher at 48.37 fruits per tree (5.9 kg) compared to Cricket Ball (13.67 fruits/tree; 1.4 kg). Fruit weight of S-63 (128.57 g) was higher compared to Cricket Ball (114 g). The TSS (20.33°Brix), and acidity (0.29%) were higher compared to Cricket Ball (19.66°Brix; 0.2%). Thus, S-63 was found to be the best performing line for yield, dwarf stature fruit and quality fruits.