Effect of different pruning intensities on growth, yield and leaf nutrients status of starking delicious apple in hilly region of Himachal Pradesh

A field experiment on the effect of different pruning intensities on apple cultivar Starking Delicious was conducted in a private orchard at Rohru in Shimla district. Four pruning intensities were used as treatments. The results revealed that in different pruning intensities the plant growth increased as the severity of pruning increased, but the fruit set and yield decreased due to more vegetative growth. Lower yield recorded during the year 2007 might be partly due to alternate bearing habit of Starking Delicious apple and partly due to the inclement weather conditions. The leaf nutrient status was also affected by the different pruning intensities. Leaf nitrogen and potassium contents increased with the increase in severity of pruning, whereas, leaf calcium content was found to decrease.