Influence of liquid pollination technique on fruit yield and physicochemical characteristics of date palm cultivars Khadrawy and Zahidi

Abstract: Present study was designed to evaluate the response of date palm cultivars Khadrawy and Zahidi to varied concentrations of pollen grains liquid suspension (1, 2, 3 and 4 g L^-1). The experiment was arranged in two-factorial randomized complete block design. Results of the study revealed that the pollen application of 4 g L^-1 significantly increased fruit set (86 %), fruit weight (11.27 g), fruit length (38.27 mm), fruit width (23.70 mm), fruit thickness (18.90 mm), fruit geometric diameter (24.93 mm), fruit arithmetic diameter (26.96 mm), fruit surface area (1953.93 mm²), fruit volume (11.29 cc), yield per palm (23.97 kg), seed length (2.40 cm), pulp weight (9.83 g), pulp:seed ratio (6.88) and moisture content (22.72 %). However, fruit drop parameter was minimal (37 %) in that treatment as compared to others. All other parameters (fruit sphericity, seed weight, seed diameter, percent of pulp, percent of seed, total soluble solids, total sugars, reducing sugars and non-reducing sugars) were statistically not different. However, application of 3 g L^-1 pollen grains liquid suspension treatment was closely followed by 4 g L^-1 pollen grain application regarding all these attributes. Comparison between the date palm cultivars, Khadrawy was observed superior than Zahidi regarding aforesaid parameters. The interaction of both factors showed positive impact of 4 g L^-1 pollen suspension concentration when applied to cultivar Khadrawy, which was closely followed by 3 g L^-1 application. It is therefore, concluded from the present research that although the application of 4 g L^-1 pollen suspension treatment gave the best results in both cultivars, application of 3 g L^-1 pollen suspension can also be practiced at a minimal compromise on date palm yield and quality for both cultivars.