Productivity evaluation of Indian gooseberry cultivars (Emblica officinalis Gaertn) on degraded land under rainfed conditions of north -west Himalayan region

Productivity of six cultivars of Indian gooseberry was evaluated on degraded wastelands under sub-humid rainfed condition at Research Farm, Central Soil and Water conservation Research and Training Institute at Selakui, Dehradun (Uttarakhand) during 1997 to 2007. The cultivar NA -7 of Indian gooseberry produced maximum canopy volume (36.7 m³), number of fruits (18.1 branchlet^-1) & (2866.1 tree^-1) and fruit yield (20.5 t ha^-1), productivity of fruit (14.0 kg ha^-1 mm^-1), TSS: acid ratio (8.3), leaf litter fall (17.5 q ha^-1) and ranked first based on cost benefit ratio (1: 5.9). Krishna also grown vigorously on degraded wastelands under rainfed conditions and gained canopy volume statistically at par with NA-7 (35.9 m³), maximum wood biomass (12.5 t ha^-1), wood productivity (1.3 kg ha^-1 mm^-1), better physical fruit quality parameters, ranked 2^nd position considering economic returns and cost benefit ratio (1: 5.4) and leaf litter fall (17.9 qha^-1). The cultivar NA-6 produced maximum TSS (18.9 ⁰Brix), total sugar (11.2%) and occupied third place based on C: B ratio (1:5.29), whereas NA-10 was poorest among all cultivars based on cost benefit ratio.