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REGIONAL HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH & TRAINING STATION MASHOBRA District Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) INDIA

Research Activities

Thrust Area

  • Collection, propagation and planting of different cultivars of apple and pear for the establishment of field gene bank to encourage farmers for identification, selection and testing of their varieties.
  • To devise training and pruning systems in existing apple orchards by utilizing maximum sun-light for quality improvement.
  • Standardization of soil and foliar application of nutrients for quality production of apple.
  • Integrated Plant Nutrient Management recommendations based on leaf nutrients analysis with the participation of apple farmers of the region.
  • Introduction and evaluation of new promising bulbous and flowering pot plants and their market prospects.
  • Standardization of Crop regulation/ forcing techniques in cyclamen, tuberous begonia, gloxinia, pelargonium , hydrangea, fuchsia and ranunculus
  • Standardization of propagation techniques and large scale nursery production of temperate landscape plants
  • Evaluation and introduction of lawn grasses for temperate region.
  • Integrated efforts to study Apple blotch and Alternaria blight syndrome, its prevalence, severity and epidemiology and their management.
  • Integrated management of canker and soil-borne diseases by innovative approaches
  • Efforts to encourage safe and timely use of pesticides to conserve natural enemies and phylloplane antagonists in the apple orchards.
  • To undertake an in- depth economic analysis of the water resource availability and utilization vis-à-vis water requirements crop-wise, as it being the most critical input among all the resources owned by the growers.
  • To make scientific and development oriented efforts in marketing management aspects of ‘Horticultural Economics' through research and extension oriented activities.
  • To revalidate area/ production economic indicators from secondary/ primary sources from time to time, under the changing price scenario.
  • To devise new approaches in Transfer of Technologies with the farmers' participation modules in their orchards.

Salient Achievements

  • The Regional Horticultural Research Station, Mashobra had been introducing, evaluating and maintaining the temperate fruit cultivars ever since its establishment. At present, about 156 apple, 10 pear, 27 cherry and 3 each of hazelnut and walnut cultivars is being maintained in the repository.
  • Under the project establishment of field gene bank of temperate fruits varieties/ accessions of apple (238), pear (63) and sweet cherry (47) have been collected and established in the maintenance breeding block.
  • Pro-hexadione- Ca (Regalis 10% WG) applied at a rate of 0.5g/l at 3-5 new leaves per shoot and 0.6g/l application 4 weeks after first application was found effective in checking growth of laterals and improved the yield of Starking Delicious apple trees by 37%.
  • In apple, the application of Promalin (60 ppm) at 100 percent full bloom of the king petals improved the fruit length diameter ratio and prominence of calyx lobes. Further, A mixture of 25 ppm of GA 4+7 + BA sprayed at full bloom of king petals had significant effect in improving fruit shape and size of Delicious apple.
  • The chilling requirement of Starking Delicious was estimated to be 1208chill unit (CU). The growing degree hours in Celsius (GDH0C) ie heat unit requirement from the date of rest completion to full bloom was 8893 GDH0C. these two constants can be used to find out the suitability of growing Delicious cultivars at a particular location and the time for cultural amendments in case of weather vagaries such as warmer winters
  • Application of Dormex (49% Hydrogen cyanamide) at a concentration of 1.0% in combination with 2.0% Horticultural mineral oil before the completion of chilling requirement (1208 CU) induced early and uniform flowering in Delicious apple trees. Correlation studies between the percent bloom and yield revealed that the spray at 984 CU accumulations, the correlation was positive (r= + 0.700), whereas late application at 1427 CU, the correlation between percent bloom and yield was negative (r= 0.365). Thus, the chemical Dormex can be used in warmer winter conditions for the supplementation of chilling requirement of apple.
  • Phosphorus was found to be strong antagonist of zinc inhibiting its absorption and translocation. Zinc deficiency due to excess of phosphorus as indicated by leaf zinc contents can be overcome by foliar application of zinc sulphate.

Tydeman's Early Worcester, Red Gold, Granny Smith, Lord Lambourne, McIntosh, Golden Delicious and flowering crabs (Manchurian, Golden Hornet, Snow Drift)

Apple
Standard cultivars Royal Delicious, Red Delicious
Improved early colouring strains Vance Delicious, Top Red, Hardeman, Skyline Supreme, Bright-N-Early and Real MeCoy
Spur type cultivars Red Chief, Oregon Spur, Silver Spur, Well Spur, Redspur, Starkrimson Delicious, Goldspur, Starkspur Golden
Promising introductions Scarlet Gala, Gale Gala, Red Fuji, Coe Fuji, Early Red One, Scarlet Spur-II, Oregon Spur-II, Gibson Golden, Red Gravenstein
Pollinizers
Hybrids developed Ambred, Ambroyal, Ambstarking and Ambrich
Rootstocks Dwarf : M9, M26
Semi- Dwarf : M7, MM106
Semi vigorous : MM111, Merton793
PEAR
Cultivars Red Bartlett,Max Red Bartlett, William's Bartlett, Conference, Dr Jules Guyot, Flemish Beauty
Rootstocks Quince A, BA 29C, Beurre Hardy (Interstock)
CHERRY
Cultivars Black Heart, Red Heart, Stella, Lambert, Bing, Napolean, Van
Rootstocks Semi dwarf : Colt
Semi vigorous :F12/1
  • Adoption of high density plantation on flat, fertile and moisture sufficient areas.
  • High density planting of Vance Delicious and Top Red on MM106 rootstock (2222 plants/ha) have shown the yield potential of 3-4 times higher than standard plantation.
  • Spraying of Gramaxone 6 ml/L of water in April and July in tree basins was found to be an effective weedicide in apple orchards.
  • Dry grass / black alkathene mulch was found to be effective in conserving soil moisture and weed control.
  • Micro-irrigation at 80% ETc w.e.f. April to July was found to be effective in increasing growth, fruit yield and leaf nutrient contents of apple in high density plantation.
  • In Golden Delicious, NAA @ 10 ppm + 0.1% Triton X was an optimum dose for fruit thinning and improvement of fruit size when applied 14 days after full bloom. However, in Granny Smith, 20 ppm NAA was effective at petal fall stage.
  • In apple, the application of Promalin @ 60 ppm at full bloom stage improved the fruit L/D ratio and prominence of calyx lobes.
  • Dormex @ 1.0% in combination with 2% HMO applied in the last week of January enhanced uniform flowering in Delicious apples under warmer winter conditions.
  • Biozyme Fruit+ @ 2.0 ml/L of water applied thrice at pre-bloom, petal fall and pea size stages of flower/ fruit development increased yield efficiency and fruit size of apples.
  • Application of Sitofex (N-(2-chloro-4 pyrindyl)-N- Phenyl urea) @ 7 ml/ L of water improved the fruit yield and fruit size of apple, when applied at petal fall stage.
  • NPK @ 700:350:700 g per tree basin supplemented with Zn (0.5%) and B (0.1%) sprayed at pink bud and fruit development stages improved the yield of apple trees.
  • Micnelf (Micronutrient formulation) @ 0.5% sprayed at different stages of fruit development showed better fruit set and yield.
  • Phosphorus was found to be strong antagonist of zinc inhibiting its absorption and translocation. Zinc deficiency due to excess of phosphorus as indicated by leaf zinc contents can be overcome by foliar application of zinc sulphate.
  • Apple cv. Red Chief High Density Plantation of Apple Pear cv. Red Bartlett
  • Beneficial effects on fruit size and surface colouration were observed with 0.5% polyfeed (19-19-19+ME) sprayed at pink bud stage and 0.5% Multi-K (13-0-46) at walnut stage (2-2½ cm) followed by a repeat spray of Multi-K after 15-20 days.
  • The most accurate measure of chill-unit requirement of Delicious apple was found to be 1208 CU

Quality improvement in apple through PGR

Ornamental germplasm collection consists of temperate pot plants, landscape plants and bulbs. Some important ones are given below

Flowering Pot plants Pelargonium, Fucshia, Begonia, Cyclamen, Calceolaria, Lisianthus, Hydrangea, Cymbidium Orchids, Primula obconica, Primula acaulis, Primula malacoide,s Gloxinia, Petunia Pansy, Astilbe, Cineraria, Ranunculus.
Bulbous ornamentals Alstroemeria Agapanthus Allium Anemone Crocus Begonia rex Begonia (tuberous) Clivia Crinum Crocus Dahlia Freesia hybrids Gladiolus Hippeastrum Iris Narcissus Ornithogalum Kniphofia Ranunculus Tulip Zantedeschia
Herbaceous perennials Achillea Astilbe Aquiligia Bergenia Campanula Delphinium Digitalis Hypericum Limonium Primula Rudbeckia Salvia Salidago Hydrangea Anemone Agastache Armeria Cerastium Perennial phlox Paeonia Aconitum
Climbers Ivy Jasmine Honeysuckle Clematis Passion flower Climbing rose Rosa banksia Wiesteria Solanum jasminoides Tecoma capensis Vitis tribolata Mendevilla Trailing Geranium Trailing Begonia Hedera Parthinocissus Ampelopsis Ficus Trachelospermum jasminoides
Trees Cryptomeria, Cunninghamia, Ginkgo, Platanus Cupressus Quercus robur Ligustrum Juniperus Acer spp Illex spp Laurus, Benthamidia, Buxus , Magnolia, Abies pindrow Spruce Flowering Cherry Flowering crabs Ornamental peach Ornamental Plum
Shrubs/ Edges/ Hedges Hydrangea Hibiscus Abelia Spireae Deutzia Viburnum Euonymu, Berberries, Prunus cherry Lauro, weigela, Forysthia Pyracantha , Syringa, Ligustrum, Lonicera, nitida Magnolia Camellia Azalea Loropetalum Pittosporun
  • 1000 seeds each of cyclamen cvs. Halios curly f1 mix, Latinia Fantasia F1 mix, Halios Fantasia F1 mix, Halios standard classic F1 mix and tianis standard Clasiic F1 mix were sown on 2/4/13 in 50 cavity plastic plug trays in a sieved mixture consisting of equal parts of forest leaf mould , coco peat and sand. These trays after seed sowing were covered with black plastic mulch and kept in a propagation chamber so as to provide total darkness to the seeds which is extremely essential for obtaining uniform germination. The first signs of germination were clearly visible after 20-22 days of sowing and after 40 days, the germination process was complete. 75 percent germination has been achieved in total in all the cultivars. These plug plants will be shifted into 5 inch plastic pots in mid July.
  • F1 seeds of Gloxinia cv. Double brocade mix from sakata seeds, Japan were sown on 2/5/13 in sieved seed germination compost comprising of equal parts of forest soil, leaf mould, and sand and coco peat by volume. The germination started after 11 days of sowing and was complete after 18 days. The seedlings at three to four leaf stage after 45 to 50 days of sowing have been transplanted in beds and plastic plug trays ( 98 cavity). Approximately 90 percent final plant survival has been achieved with almost 4500 plants ready for shifting into 5-6 inch plastic pots.
  • F1 and F2 seeds of Ranunculus Cv. Bloomingdale mix were sown at RHRS, Mashobra where, Eighty five per cent germination after 20-25 days of sowing was recorded with September sown seeds of Ranunculus Bloomingdale mix, in a sieved mixture of 2 parts soil and one part each of FYM, leaf mould and coarse river sand. Prior to sowing, the seed was kept in moist conditions at 4oC in Refrigerator and it took 18 to 30 days for germination under glasshouse
  • Studies on tulip evaluation revealed that the average bulb circumference varied from 9 cm to 12 cm in all the cultivars, with cv. Red Impression and the Apricot Impression having the largest bulb circumference (12 and 11 cm respectively). Cv. Red Impression was the first to bloom followed by cv. Apricot Impression. The duration of flowering in all the cultivars ranged from 25 to 42 days which again depended on the prevailing temperature conditions in the months of March and April. Cooler Day Temperature ranges of 15-22 o C favored long lasting flower blooms which started to fade as the day time temperatures hovered in between 20-25oC. The adverse climatic conditions like rain storms coupled with heavy hails in April also decreased the quality of blooms and their vase life.
  • September- October was found the best time for division of 2-3yearoldAlstroemeriaclumps where on an average, 20-30 plantlets (each containing a new rhizome, a bunch of fleshy storage and fibrous roots and 1-2 growing shoot tips) from a single clump could be obtained for raising in polythene bags. Growing media consisting of soil + sand + cocopeat + vermicompost + FYM, in equal proportions by volume was the best substrate for vegetative parameters like plant height, shoot length, spread, number of leaves, stem thickness and chlorophyll content. Advanced flowering with greater number of cymes per inflorescence, more duration of flowering and better pot presentability were also recorded with the same media. Increased rhizome production could also be obtained in this medium.
  • A compost comprising of sieved mixture containing field soil, well decomposed FYM, well decomposed leaf mould and Coco peat in equal proportions by volume was found optimum for obtaining good seed germination in Cyclamen, Primula, tuberous begonia, Lisianthus and Pelargonium.
  • A sieved compost comprising of equal proportion of soil, FYM, leaf mould and sand was found optimum for growing well balanced and presentable pots of Cyclamen, Tuberous begonias, Primula and Fuchsia whereas, a standard compost consisting of sieved mixture of soil, FYM and sand produced most desirable pot plants of Pelargonium and Lisianthus.
  • A 50 per cent combination mixture of coco peat and sand was found optimum for getting good rooting percentage in fuchsia, hydrangea, euonymus, tuberous begonia, buxus , juniperus, cupressus, aucuba, exoecaria and Pelargoniums when cuttings were raised in these media in 1st week of June.
  • IBA @ 5000 ppm was found effective in rooting of Ginkgo biloba whereas IBA @ 2000 ppm was effective in rooting of Viburnum opulus.
  • Spray of Cycocel @1500 ppm repeated thrice at 20 days interval or a single of Paclobulrazol @ 50 ppm was found effective in reducing the plant height and in increasing the plant spread of Pelargonium x hortorum cv. Horizon Ripple Red.
  • Seed germination studies in cyclamen have shown that the optimum temperature for germination is 20oC when seed is sown in dark.
  • IBA @ 1000 ppm as quick dip aided in faster rooting of tuberous begonia cuttings whereas IBA @ 5000 ppm resulted in better and earlier rooting in Daphne and Cupressus.
  • Monitoring and forecasting techniques for apple scab and blotch have been standardized.
  • An integrated schedule for control of important diseases has been formulated.

    • Important diseases of apple

  • Spray of Bordeaux mixture @ 1% after pruning against pathogens causing twig and branch cankers and other problems of apple under changed hot winter climatic conditions has been found effective.
  • Bordeaux mixture containing copper sulphate @ 600gm + lime @ 1200 gm formulation for the control of apple blotch disease during summer provided 100% control up to 24 days.
  • Step-wise technology has been developed for Apple Replant problem based on cultural and chemical techniques.
  • Soil application of lime powder during December and copper sulphate in April @ 600-1000 gm per infested apple tree or mixture of the two @ 1% through basin drenching technique during April controls both root and collar rots. The recommendation has broad-spectrum effect to control disease, kill pathogen and disinfect infested soil against pathogens or further spread in the orchard.
  • Modified economical and effective substitute paste for apple plant wounds was formulated and validated. The paste is being used and the response and feed back of the growers is encouraging.
  • Eco-friendly and safe horticultural mineral oils viz. Mak all Season,Servo,Orchol-13, H.P. Summer oil and Arbofine % (each) have been recommended for the control of European red mite and Sanjose scale at green tip stage to pink bud stage in apple orchards.
  • New miticides - Propargite, Fenzaquin, Fenpyroximate and Hexithiozox have been recommended for the control of motile stages of European red mite.
  • Carbosulfan 0.025% (Marshal 25 EC) has proved highly effective in suppressing woolly apple aphid population in apple orchards.
  • Twenty new sp. Of mites were recorded for the first time from fruits and vegetable in Himachal Pradesh belonging to Genus- Euseius, Amblyseius, Agistemus, Stigmaeus, Terminalicus, Brevipalpus, Tydeius, Lorryia and Aplonobia
  • Seven different acaricides /insecticides /fungicides were evaluated for the safety of predatory mites Neoseiulus longispinosus,. Data revealedthat predatory mites mortality was higher initially but later on reduced in Bavistin ,Omite and Magistic , and Dithane M-45 treated leaves ( 45.0,65.0 %and 90% kill(each) respectively .Whereas Athena and Marshal provided 100% kill of predatory mites.
  • On apple different 17 mites were recorded from different six families' viz. Phytosiidae, Tydidae, Stigmaeidae, Eriophyidae, Taenupalpidae and Tetranychidae.
  • Humidity more than 75% and temperature between 18-25˚c is favourable for the fast multiplication of European red mite.

San Jose Scale On Apple Woolly Apple Aphid

European Red Mite

Winter Eggs of European Red Mite Mite Infested Leaves and Fruits

  • Economics of drip irrigation system has shown increase in crop yield by about 10-40%, water saving to the tune of 25% and higher undiscounted benefit cost ratio by 16% than rainfed situation.
  • Impact of technological interventions on apple production has been found to be 45%
  • Weighted marketing efficiency index through improved marketing functions has been worked out to be about 58% indicating that the marketing functions like picking, assembling, grading, picking, transportation, marketing intelligence, storage and processing, if explored scientifically through trainings on technical and managerial aspects of marketing can enhance marketing efficiency by about 58% through increasing value of output.
  • Quality production and sale of nursery plants of fruits and flowers
  • Supply of disease free scion sticks of improved apple varieties
  • Multiplication of clonal rootstocks of fruits

Sr No Project Title Name of PI/ Co PI Funding Agency
1 All India Network Project on Agricultural Acarology Dr. Sangita Sharma ICAR
2 Canopy management of dwarf apple trees for enhancing quality production Dr. Neena Chauhan HMM
3 Establishment of field gene bank of temperate fruits Dr. Neena Chauhan PPV&FRA

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