Phenological Monitoring Of Selected Horticultural Fruit Tree Crops

Researchers working on climate change predict that the rise of global temperature affects the life and ecosystems on the earth in various ways (IPCC 2007) and the most significant effect on the fruit tree crops would be the change in the phenology of growth and flowering (Chmielewski and Rötzer , 2001). And this change or shifts in phenology of flowering would affect the pollination as the flowering phenology of the fruit tree species and phenology of the pollinator shifts may not coincide (Rafferty and Ives. 2011). The horticultural fruit tree crops having highly economic and nutritional value and importance, the disruption of phenophases viz., leafing, flowering and fruiting would affect the availability and accessibility of the fruits in the markets. Hence, it is important to understand how the horticultural fruit tree crops are responding to their environment and how the phenology shifts are happening among the genotypes or varieties. As the response of some of the varieties and genotypes to changing climatic conditions varies, the study of the phenology of the fruit trees at the genotype and variety level needs to be undertaken. Therefore, the proposed study of phenological monitoring of selected fruit tree crops viz., Bael (Aegle marmelos), Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) Jamun (Syzygium cumini) and Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) under the Chota Nagpur plateau climatic conditions is being undertaken owing to the importance of the selected fruit tree species based on their nutritional, economical and ecological aspects. The ultimate goal of the proposed project is documentation of how the stages of the tree’s annual cycle are influenced by the environment and how these stages could be affected by climate change in the future and how we can manipulate the tree environment by management practices for better tree growth and development (leafing, flowering and fruiting) and fruit yield.