Effect of mode of pollination on fruit set and quality of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) in kullu valley of Himachal Pradesh

The present investigation was conducted to study the effect of mode of pollination on fruit set and quality of sweet cherry at Beekeeping Horticulture Research Sub Station, Katrain and in private orchard at village Dobhi, district Kullu, Himachal Pradesh during 2014-2015. The experiment was laid down in randomized block design (RBD) factorial and different modes of pollination viz., bee pollination, open pollination, hand pollination and controlled pollination were practised. The experimental results revealed that bee pollination (70.95 %) was equally superior to open (63.47 %) and hand pollination (70.35 %). No fruits were obtained from the flowers caged before flowering indicating that cherry requires insect pollination for fruit set. Besides this, the effect of different modes of pollination on fruit quality revealed that there was no difference in width, length, TSS, weight and volume of fruits under open and bee pollination. Further, one colony per hectare is recommended for orchards planted in such areas, where natural insect population including A. cerana is abundant, suggesting that area like Katrain, Kullu, HP surrounded by natural habitat and with rich floral diversity is providing natural habitat for different insect pollinators.