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Effects of Water on Fruit Set and Weight of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.)

MOHAMMED ABDULHASAN MURAD AL-MUSAWI
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Kufa University, Najaf, Iraq
*(e-mail : mohammeda.almusawi@uokufa.edu.iq; Mobile : 964780317213)
(Received : March 1, 2019; Accepted : May 10, 2019

ABSTRACT

This study was undertaken during 2017 season to investigate the influence of water, as a simulation of early rainfall, on fruit set percentage and fruit weight of date palm, Phoenix dactylifera L. cvs. Sayer and Hillawi. Ten trees, five of each cultivar, were selected and six bunches from every tree were numbered for treatments. Bunches were simultaneously pollinated with same pollen and sprayed with distilled water after 0.5, 1, 2, 4, or 8 h of pollination process excepting control treatment, pollination without water spraying. Six weeks post-pollination, random samples were collected to measure fruit set percentage. Likewise, at ripening harvested fruits of each bunch were collected and weighed separately. The findings showed that spraying of pollinated flowers with distilled water after 0.5 and 1 h of pollination resulted in a significant reduction in fruit set percentage compared with the control, while other water treatments were not significantly effective. Moreover, fruit weight was not significantly affected by any of the water treatments as compared with the control. Therefore, there was no need to repeat pollination process, if rain fell after 2 h or more following pollination.
Key words :Date palm, fruit, pollination, rain, water