Performance of some cashew (Anacardium occidentale L) selections for nut yield

Field experiment was conducted at Cashew Research Station of All India Coordinated Research Project on Cashew (ICAR) under OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha to study the performance of different cashew selections for nut yield by adopting RBD replicated thrice having four plants per treatment. The treatments consisted of 11 entries viz BH 6 (Jagannatha), BH 85 (Balabhardra), H 1597 (Amrutha), H 662, H 675, H 32/4, K 22-1, H 11, H 14 and Goa 11/6 (Bhaskara) including BPP 8 as local check. The clonal planting material was planted at a spacing of 7.5 x 7.5 m during 2003 by uniformly adopting recommended package of practices to raise a good crop. The results revealed significant variations among the entries for various vegetative parameters, nut yield and yield attributing parameters. The results of present study on vegetative growth parameters revealed that the cashew selections K 22-1 and H 675 were identified as dwarf in growth habit hence were proved suitable for high density planting system in cashew. The overall results revealed significant superiority of BH 85, H 32/4, Goa 11/6 and BPP-8 for majority of nut yield attributing parameters such as flowering duration (85 to 104 days), number of panicles/m² (17.63 to 22.05), male-bisexual flower ratio (0.21 to 0.36), mean number of nuts/m²(27.91 to 42.59) and number ofnuts/panicle (5.00 to 6.00) than rest of the cashew selections. Similarly significantly better performance of selections BH 6, BH 85, H 1597and Goa 11/6 including BPP 8 as check was observed for mean nut weight (7.17 to 8.60 g), shelling percentage (28.17 to 31.33) and annual yield (6.06 to 7.97 kg/ha) as compared to other selections. It was concluded that the cashew selections BH 85 (Balabhardra), BH 6 (Jagannath), BPP 8, Goa 11/6 (Bhaskara) and H 1597 (Amruta) may be recommended not only for better growth but also for nut yield in a sustainable manner.