Effects of pruning and nutrient application on yield and quality of ber under hot arid environment

A three-year experiment was conducted to assess effect of different time of pruning (P₁: 15^th May, P₂: 30^th May, P₃: 15^th June and P₄: 30^th June) and nutrient management (N₁: control, N₂: 500 g N + 500 g P₂O₅+ 250 g K₂O, N₃: 1000 g N + 750 g P₂O₅+ 500 g K₂O and N₄: 1500 g N + 1000 g P₂O₅+ 750 g K₂O per tree) treatments on fruit yield and quality of 10-year-old established orchard of ber cv. Gola on Ziziphus rotundifolia rootstock under hot arid environment conditions. The time of pruning, nutrient application and their interaction had significant influence on fruit yield. The fruit set increased with delay in pruning time and nutrient application. The pruning at 30^th May and 15^th June recorded 30.9 and 39.6% higher fruit yield, respectively compared to pruning at 15^th May. Application of nutrient had significant influence on fruit yield, and the yield obtained with N₂, N₃ and N₄ were 27.7, 43.2 and 52.7% higher than control (N₁). The results suggest that pruning at 15^th June should be combined with application of 1000 g N + 750 g P₂O₅ + 500 g K₂O per tree to achieve higher and quality fruit yields in ber under hot arid environment.