Evaluation of Kinnow mandarin under different plant spacing in district Tarn Taran, Punjab

A field trial was conducted to find out the feasibility of different planting densities in young ‘Kinnow’ orchards in Tarn Taran district of Punjab. The experiment was conducted on four years old’ Kinnow’ mandarin plants raised on rough lemon rootstock at varying spacing, viz., 6×4.5 m, 4.5×4.5 m, 7.5×4 m, 7.5×7.5 m and 6×6 m at different orchard sites, viz., site 1, site 2, site 3, site 4 and site 5, respectively, during the year 2020–21. The maximum plant height (2.81 m), canopy spread (E-W 2.38 m), peel thickness and juice content of the Kinnow fruits (0.45 cm and 47.59%) were recorded in T₄. There was a strong positive correlation between the tree spread in the East-west direction and stock girth (0.724), scion girth (0.712), fruit number (0.658) and juice percent (0.821). The studies on planting densities carried out during this experiment are crucial for driving higher efficiency of ‘Kinnow’ mandarin plants per unit area under the sub-tropical areas of north western India. It will help to drive recommendations for the future evolution of the spacing systems, since it indicates a more efficient use of resources especially at the site 4 spaced at 7.5×7.5 mt.