Canopy Management of Fruit Crops

Fruit and vegetables are known as protective foods as they supply the daily requirement of vitamins and minerals. Till now, the availability of fruit crops in India is much below the recommended dose by ICMR, i.e. 120 g per day. The steady increase in population desires more productivity and best quality fruits to feed the nutritionally starving mouths of the country. While the country achieved a commendable position in food production, farming itself turned non-profitable over time due to rising costs and uneconomical holdings. The contagion of farmers’ distress across the country has shaken the agrarian foundations. Enhancing the incomes of the farmers and ensuring their income security, thus, has been of concern to all. Unless farmers’ income increases substantially, distress cannot be tackled. The National Commission on Farmers, under the chairmanship of Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, has addressed the issue of distress and farmers’ welfare through a series of recommendations. The Hon’ble Prime Minister, in an address to farmers, exhorted to double the incomes of farmers by 2022, which already stated that we still have requirements of more food as well as profit for the demanding society and farmers, respectively. As the land resource is constant, and most of the lands are diverted to industrial purposes, we have to utilize every minute of land area efficiently.

Coming to fruit growing, till now, most orchards are under old, senile and low-yielding crops that are unmanaged, thus providing poor productivity and a low cost-benefit ratio; hence farmers are not taking care of them properly.  Poor productivity must be reversed by increasing total production, productivity and quality through innovative approaches of canopy architecture with suitable rootstock varieties and effective technologies.

Cause of Poor Fruit Productivity:

Poor production and productivity of fruit crops are attributed to the following factors;

1.      Non availability of quality planting materials.

2.      Traditional orchading system involving less yielding varieties.

3.      Mono-cropping.

4.      Low density plantation.

5.      Poor canopy, nutrient and water management.

6.      High incidence of insects, pests and diseases.

7.      Heave pre and post-harvest losses.

Among the above several factors poor canopy management and low-density orcharding are important factors leading to low productivity. In the absence of a full canopy, the full potential of the trees can’t be exploited, as it has a direct impact on productivity and quality. Canopy management is the manipulation of the tree canopy to optimize its production potential with excellent-quality fruits. In lay mans language, the canopy can be defined as the vegetative part of the plant and canopy management includes the technology by which the large and unmanaged trees are properly managed for getting more production and quality.

Essential Features of an Ideal Fruit Plant Canopy:

Following are the various features of a highly productive fruit plant canopy;

1.      Strong frame of primary branches.

2.      Wider crotch in secondary branches.

3.      Healthy and well-distributed secondary branches.

4.      Sufficient fruiting terminals in the most productive area of the plant

5.      Healthy foliage with high photosynthetic efficiency.

6.      Enough space for air circulation in the canopy.

7.      Finally, the canopy must be able to support and protect the fruits from various environmental disorders like sunburn.

The objective of Canopy Management:

            Canopy management is different for new and old orchards. For example, initial training and pruning are given to new orchards, whereas reduction of biomass is done by cutting the unwanted parts in old orchards. The objectives of canopy management are proper distribution and utilization of solar radiation; maintaining proper airflow within the canopy, enhancing production, productivity and quality; facilitating cultural practices and controlling disease and pest attacks.

Principles of Canopy Management:

The basic rule behind the canopy management of the fruit tree is to make the best use of land and solar radiation for increased productivity. Improved production and quality have come from producing more fruit from smaller trees, as small trees are more efficient and better at capturing and converting into fruit than larger trees. Maximum utilization of light; avoidance from building up of micro climate congenial to the growth of harmful macro and micro-organisms; convenience in carrying out the cultural operations; maximizing the productivity and quality and economy in obtaining the required canopy architecture are the important principles of canopy management.

Techniques of Canopy Management:

Canopy management is an interrelationship between tree physiology with its growth and production. Orchard architecture largely depends on an orchard production system, which is a combination of variety, rootstocks, tree spacing, training and pruning etc. to optimize yield and quality. The efficient canopy is a must. Training, pruning (dormant pruning, summer pruning and summer pruning), branch orientation (for example, bending in guava for induction of more flowering branches), scoring, girdling, bark inversion, selection of proper rootstock (dwarf rootstock, semi-dwarf rootstock, biotic and abiotic stress resistance rootstock, high yielding rootstocks, etc.), use of plant growth regulators (for reduction of canopy), appropriate use of fertilizers (by soil and plant tissue analysis), deficit irrigation (to induce early reproductive growth), use of genetically engineered plant (for like dwarfing, high yielding etc.) etc., would help in maintaining the ideal canopies of the fruit trees.

Conclusion

Awareness, training, top to bottom approaches in the transfer of technologies from scientific to farming community, encouragement of the farmers who adopt the advanced technology in their field, provision of materials nearer, cheaper as well as in specific time, involvement of agriculture and allied science students directly in the farmers field, etc., are the best way and solutions for achieving the food and nutritional security while mitigating the low income of farmers and helps the action plan “Doubling the farmers income by 2022” to achieve in the targeted way.