Performance of aonla (Emblica officinalis) cultivars for growth, yield and quality in semi-arid condition

An experiment was conducted to find out the performance of different commercial varieties, viz. Krishna, Kanchan Chakaiya, NA-6, NA-7, NA-10 and Anand-1 of aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn) under semi-arid condition during 2005 and 2006 at KVK, Ujwa, New Delhi. Observations on growth parameters were taken during June, whereas fruit characters were recorded at the time of harvesting in December. The plant height was maximum (3.46m) in NA-7 and minimum (2.1m) in Anand 1. Canopy spread of the tree in East-West and North South directions were 2.75–4.0 and 4.20–3.0m, respectively. The maximum plant girth (125 cm) was recorded in NA 6. Length of determinate shoot varied from 7.6 to 16.6cm and the range of leaf size was 1.3 to 1.8 cm in different varieties. Maximum fruit size (3.92 cm × 4.60 cm) was observed in Krishna and minimum (3.31 cm × 3.80 cm) in Kanchan. However, fruit weight varied from 30.16 to 48.3g depending on cultivar. It was maximum (48.3g) in Krishna and minimum (30.16g) in Kanchan. Total pulp weight was maximum (45.6g) in Krishna and minimum (28.77g) in Kanchan. The size of stone was maximum (2.45 ×1.48 cm) in Krishna. There were significant variation in stone weight and different cultivars, which varied from 1.39 to 2.34 g. Besides, there were significant variation in yield, vitamin C, juice content, TSS, drymatter content and acidity in different cultivars. However, overall performance of NA 7, Chakaiya, NA 6 and Krishna were promising for cultivation in hot arid ecosystem.