canopy management in fruit crops - Department of Agriculture & Co ...

Introduction
Canopy management is one of the most important production factors
confronting the burgeoning fruit industry in India. Indeed, canopy
management is the manipulation of tree canopy to optimize its production
potential with excellent quality fruits. In many fruit crops, increase in
production with enhanced fruit quality is obtained by managing canopies
of short statured trees. Small trees capture and convert sunlight into fruit
production in a better way than larger ones. Fruit production involves the
capturing and conversion of sunlight into production of fruit biomass (dry
matter content). The main controlling factors are amount of in coming
radiation, and percentage of radiation intercepted by tree canopies.
In general, the question always arises as to why the plants may not
be left as such to be governed by the nature itself. The answer is that the
nature’s purposes are not always the same as ours. Nature intends that
a plant should live merely for reproducing itself in as many numbers as
possible. Nature does not care how many good sized, high quality fruits are
born by trees. For commercial fruit growing, the natural form and shape of
fruit trees have to be modified through the practice of pruning to achieve
the target of higher yield and better quality fruits. The fruit growers desire
to regulate the growth and development of their trees in a scientific manner.
This is because it is not always wise to allow a plant to develop naturally,
since unwanted portions may develop at the expense of those which are
essential from the cultivator's point of view. The removal of unwanted parts
of plant is thus known as pruning. The practice of pruning, as and when
performed in an appropriate manner, keeps the plant in such shape and
condition as to yield fruits of desired quality.
Climate has significant bearing on pruning. The fruit crops grown in
different climatic zones — tropical, subtropical and temperate are required
to be trained and pruned accordingly, depending on the type of plant and
specific objectives of fruit growers. Canopy management depends on the
nature and growth pattern of plant, number of plants / ha and pruning
techniques.
Pruning should be done when trees are young to establish their basic
Canopy Management in Fruit Crops 1