Effect of pollination levels and repeated pollination on the fruit set and size of kiwifruit, Actinidia deliciosa Chev

Effect of pollination levels and repeated pollination on fruit set and size of kiwifruit was evaluated during 2012–2013 at the orchard of Department of Fruit Science, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry Nauni, Solan. In different pollination levels flowers were hand pollinated by manipulating the number of styles and retaining 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 14, 16, 20, 24 and all styles. Data on fruit set was recorded 25 days after pollination. Results obtained showed that there was a high fruit set irrespective of the number of styles pollinated but when flowers with more than 10 styles were pollinated fruit set recorded was 100 per cent. Fruit growth was measured at 15 days interval and initially there was a rapid increase in fruit growth for 40 days and thereafter it slowed down till harvest. A single sigmoid growth curve was recorded. Maximum fruit size and number of seeds were obtained when all styles were pollinated. Fruit size was proportionate to the number of seeds; fruits with maximum number of seeds were largest in size. Repeated pollination showed adverse effect on the size of kiwifruit. Fruits of small size and with minimum number of seeds were recorded when flowers were repeatedly hand pollinated at 8 hours interval.