HIGH DENSITY PLANTING Dr. B. R. PARMAR1 & P. B. JADHAV2 1 Professor Dept. of Horti. NMCA., NAU., Navsari, Gujrat-396 450.

2 Dept. of Fruit Sci. ASPEE College of Horti. & Forestry, NAU., Navsari, Gujrat-396450. Email Id: - parag.jadhav1@gmail.com, parag_horti@rediffmail.com Introduction It is well known that the diversity in soil and climatic conditions in India permits growing of a large variety of tropical, sub-tropical and temperate fruits in different regions, due to which India is regarded as a horticultural paradise. India is the second largest producer of the fruits in the World. High density planting in fruit growing was first established in apple in Europe in the early sixties. Presently, the continued decline in the availability of cultivable land, rising energy and land costs together with the mounting demand for horticultural produce, have given thrust to adoption of HDP in horticultural crops. Furthermore, it is of main concern to the growers with small landholdings. High density planting is referred as Semi-intensive system accommodating 500-1,000 trees/ha, Intensive system accommodating 1,000 to 10,000trees/ha employing specialized training systems and Super-intensive system with 20,000 to1,00,000 per ha. Choosing the correct planting density is very important for bringing the gap between the actual yield and the potential yield of the fruit crops from unit area. At present majority of temperate fruit orchards in Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Japan are under intensive systems of fruit production. There are several fruit crops where success on their HDP has been achieved, e.g. apple, peach, plum, sweet-cherry, pear among temperate fruits and banana, pineapple, papaya among tropical fruits. In India, HDP technology has been successfully tried in banana, pineapple, papaya and recently in mango guava and citrus. Golden revolution: Is it so gold? 2 n d largest producer of fruits First in mango, banana Per capita availability only 72 g/day against 120 g We have to double the production by 2020? How to reach this target? Very difficult Concept of High Density Planting The conceptual background of high density planting reveals that it was pioneered for temperate fruits in Europe.

High density orchards were first planted in Europe at the end of the 19 t h and since then these is a decline in traditional orchards with low densities. The exact limits of plant density to be termed as high density is not yet well defined. It varies with the region, species, variety, and rootstock, cost of planting material, labour and the likely return from the orchard, and agro techniques adopted for a particular crop. The underlying principle of a HDP is to make the best use of vertical and horizontal space per unit time and to harness maximum possible return per unit of inputs. In other words, it is the planting of more number of plants than optimum through manipulation of tree size. Comparison between traditional systems and modern systems of fruit growing.

Attribute Tree number Bearing Production Manageme nt

Traditional system Few large trees/ha (150-200 trees/ha) Late in bearing, usual time required 6-8 years or more. Overall production per ha is low. Difficult to manage due to large size of trees.

Modern system Many small trees/ha (500-1,00,000 trees/ha). Precocious in bearing, usual time required 2-3 years. Increased overall production per ha. Easy to manage due to small size of trees. Higher Cost.

Esablismen Low Cost. t cost Machinery Harvesting

Expensive machines required. Expensive machines not required. Difficult (manual). Easy (machine).

Advantages of High Density Planting It induces precocity. Increase yield. Improves fruit quality. It reduces labour cost resulting in low cost of production. It also enables the mechanization of fruit crop production. It facilitates more efficient use of fertilizers, water, radiation, fungicides, weedicides and pesticides.

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Disadvantages of the High Density Planting Yield/annum becomes progressively lower due to reduction in tree ages. Initial establishment cost is very high. Harvesting required more time so, crop timing potential is rapidly lost. Cultural operations become difficult Constraints in Adoption of HDP Systems Non-availability of planting material in dwarf varieties in different horticultural crops except banana. Non-availability of vegetatively propagated rootstocks in different fruit and plantation crops. Avoidance in use of inter- and mixed-cropping system Overcrowding trees in mango HDP after 10 to 12 years. Harmful effects of chemicals like paclobutrazol causing barrenness in crops like mango, grape etc. Non-availability of complete package for HDP and use of mechanization Tree size control in HDP Use of genetically dwarf scion cultivars. Uses of dwarfing rootstocks and interstocks. Pruning and training. Five important components of High Density planting are Dwarf scion varieties; Dwarfing rootstocks and inter-stocks; Training and pruning, Use of chemicals and Suitable crop management practices Use of growth retardant EFFECT OF HIGH DENSITY PLANTING Light interception In initial life of high density groove, this resource is effectively utilized as compared to conventional planting. However, in later years, the interception is poor due to crowding of tree canopy. It often results in smaller sized fruits and poor colour development. Fruit size and quality No doubt that the yields are very high in dense planting, fruit size may be relatively smaller with little or no effect on fruit quality. Weed growth and population

 Weeds are unwanted plants, which compete with crops for water, nutrients, light and harbor insect pest and disease and interfere with orchard management and harvesting operation, resulting in poor growth and productivity of main crop. Due to dense canopy in high density planting, only the filtered light is intercepted by the ground, which affected the weed growth and population per unit area. In the initial years of establishment, there may be some growth of weeds but in late years, the problem of weeds is eliminated Fruit maturity One of the major effects of the high density plantings has been on the hastening or delaying of the fruit maturity. This effect can be effectively utilized by the farmers for harnessing maximizing profits from high density planting. The fruit under conventional plantings are harvested at one time resulting in bumper production of Kinnow fruits in the market. It oftenly forces farmers to sell their produce at lower rate. With the adoption of high density planting technique in Kinnow, farmers can get very high returns due to late maturity. Incidence of insect pest and disease HDP change the microclimate of the particular piece of land due to reduction in sun light, affecting the temperature and humidity. These conditions are favorable for the occurrence or increase in the incidence or intensity of insect pests and disease. Even though there is no such report available in literature that high density planting support it. Harvesting problems Harvesting in high density planting is really a difficult task. In the initial years of the planting it may not be a problem, however, after fully maturity of trees harvesting may great problem. However, new approach like mechanical harvesting has become as one of the most viable option in high density planting than on convectional planting High density planting in different fruit crops: Apple There are four categories of high density planting based on plant densities used in apple, i.e. low (less than 250 plants/ha), moderate (250 to 500 plants/ha), high (500 to 1,250 plants/ha)and ultra-high (more than 1250 plants/ha) density. Apart from these, super highdensity plantings or meadow orcharding (20,000 to 70,000 plants/ha) have been demonstrated in some European countries. The optimum

density ranges from over 3,000 trees/ha in the Netherlands to less than 2,000 trees/ ha in USA under single and double row system of planting. Use of pruning, rootstocks and spur type scion varieties is done to establish HDP. Other techniques like training and pruning methods are bending of branches and use of growth retardant. The most common dwarfing/semi-dwarfing rootstocks for HDP are M9, M26, M4, M7 andMM106, whereas M27 has been used for raising meadow orchards. In Himachal Pradesh, MM106 and MM109 for spur types and M7 and MM111 for non-spur cultivars are being popularized under Himachal conditions. Of late, MM 106 has been recommended for establishing HDP in Jammu and Kashmir. The spur-type varieties are genetically dwarf. Some of the promising spur varieties which need popularization are Star krimson, Red Spur, Gold Spur, Well Spur, Oregon Spur, Silver Spur, Red Chief and Hardispur. Besides, many other varieties such as Bright 'N' Early, Royal Gala and Red Fuji are promising columnar varieties suited for HDP. Training systems, such as spindle bush, dwarf pyramid, espalier, cordon, palmette and Noored Holland Spindle bush are recommended for intensive orchards. On dwarfing rootstocks, plantings are trained on spindle bush, dwarf pyramid and cordon in Himachal Pradesh. Peach Peach bears fruits on one-year-old shoots, which require regular annual pruning to make them suitable for high-density orcharding. High density in peach has been tried with planting varying from 930 to 2,050 trees per hectare yielding 13 to 34 t/ha following different training systems viz. Hedge row, Y shape trellis, spindle, modified free spindle and modified leader. A plant population of 2,000 trees/ha trained on Tatura trellis system gave fruit yield of 31.5t/ha. Mango Mango yields worldwide are generally poor, ranging from 4 to 9 t/ha in the major mango producing countries. This is partly attributable to wide tree spacing, which are traditionally based on expected eventual tree size. Canopies of these mango trees often take more than10 years to fill the allocated space in the orchard row. Most of the commercial varieties of the mango are irregular bearer and generally planted at a distance of 10 to 15 m, accommodating about 70 to 100 plants/ha, while Amrapali variety has been recommended by IARI to be grown at 2.5 x 2.5 m (triangular method) and accommodating1600 plants/ha as against 80-100 plants/ha under traditional planting density yielded up to22 t/ha. The high-density orchard provides several times (8-9) higher yields than the traditional densities. Dashehari mango at 2.5m x 3m (1,333 plants/ha) can also be raised under HDP with pruning

and dehorning after the harvesting after 10 t h year of planting. In countries like Israel, productivity of mango has been doubled by adopting HDP technology (3 x 5 m or 3 x 6 m) using pruning machines mounted on tractor. In Maharashtra, HDP has been achieved with application of paclobutrazol. Successful HDP (666 plants/ha) plantations of different commercial varieties namely Kesar, Alphonso, Tommy Atkins, Maya, etc. has been demonstrated by the Reliance Agro Ltd. at Jamnagar (Gujarat) under arid agro-climate. A solid plantation of over 80,000 plants has been established using different Hi-tech interventions like fertigation, use of growth regulator (Paclobutrazol), uniform clonal (Polyembryonic rootstock), modern packaging unit, etc. It is exclusively an export-oriented plantation and is likely to revolutionize mango production and productivity in India. Banana Due to availability of dwarf clones in banana HDP is gaining popularity. For the highest possible yields of good quality fruit, an optimum plant density (2.1 m x 2.1 m of 2,267 plants/ha) for poor soils and 1.5 to 2.1 m for Dwarf Cavendish, 2.4 m x 2.4 m for Chakkara keli and 2.4 to 3.0 m for Bontha (Monthan) has been tried results revealed that the Dwarf Cavendish and Robusta are fit to be planted under high density planting concept at a planting distance of 1.2m X 1.2m (6,944 plants/ha) in a square system of the planting under a proper nutrient management practice. There is minimum weed growth, effective utilization of the solar radiation and appropriate utilization of the inputs, which are the other major factors, attributed to the success of such planting systems. Yield realization varies from 86 t/ ha in Basarai at 1.5 x 1.5 m to 174 t/ha in Robusta planted at 1.2 m x 1.2 m spacing. Sapota Sapota is normally planted at a wide spacing of 8 x 8 m. Results have shown that high plant density of 312 plants per ha (8 m x 4 m) is possible yielding 15.35 t/ha after 15 year of planting in PKM-1. Papaya With the development of dwarf varieties like Pusa Dwarf, Pusa Nanha and Ranchi Dwarf, it is now possible to grow papaya under the HDP concept. Normally, papaya varieties are planted at a distance of 2.5m X 3m or 2.5m X 2.5m, which accommodates 1,333 to 1,600plants/ha, while Pusa Nanha may be planted at a distance of 1.25 x 1.25m (6,400 plants/ha). Such orchards may give 3 to 4 times higher yields (60 to 65 tonnes/ha) in comparison to the yield of the traditional orchards (15 to 20 t/ha). Other cultivars like CO-1, CO-2, Pusa Dwarf and Honey Dew-1 are also suitable for high density planting.

Pineapple Pineapple is grown traditionally at low density (15,000 to 20,000 Plants /ha) leading to low productivity and an increased production cost. Kew, Queen and Smooth Cayenne cultivars are found highly suitable for HDP using Double row method of the planting suckers (500-600 g) or (slips 350-400gm) spaced at 25 to 30 cm in the rows at a distance of 45 to 60 cm with a spacing of 90 to 105 cm between the beds (63,000 plants/ha). There is ample scope for expanding area under HDP for the benefit of the fruit growers, so that more and more area could be brought under pineapple cultivation. Yield realization varies from 60-70 tones/ha with use of high density in Kew pineapple. Guava By grafting, on dwarfing rootstock Pusa Srijan (Aneuploid No. 82) high density planting can be achieved in guava. A full bearing highdensity guava orchard on Aneuploid No. 82 rootstock may yield 18 to 20t/ha compared to 8-10t/ha in low density planting. Planting distance varies from 5.4 to 7.5 m. The trials conducted under All-India Coordinated Fruit Improvement Projects at different centres, viz. Faizabad, Ranchi and Basti indicated that double-hedge-row system of planting with 800-900 plants/ha is beneficial for achieving high yield per unit area in Allahabad Safeda. At the Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow, planting was tried at four densities e.g. 1.5 x 3.0 m (2,222 plants/ha), 3.0 x 3.0 m (1,111 plants/ha), 3.0 x 6.0 m (555 plants/ha) and 6.0 x 6.0 m (277 plants/ha). Average yield of 73, 41, 26 and 13 from pruned trees in comparison to 57, 29, 22 and 10 kg/ plant under unpruned trees from above densities was obtained. Further, results however need to be worked. Citrus Trifoliate orange rootstock Flying Dragon is capable of reducing growth by 75 per cent as compared to standard rootstocks. Kinnow mandarin has been grown successfully under high density planting using Troyer citrange, Karna Khatta and Sohsarkar rootstocks at a planting distance of 6' x 6' (2,990 plants/ha), 8' X 8' (1,682 plants/ha) on Karna Khatta and 10' x 10' (1,076plants/ha) on Soh-Sarkar rootstocks respectively. Similarly, Cleopatra mandarin rootstock was ideal for Mosambi sweet orange. For Khasi mandarin, a spacing of 5m x 5m (400plants/ha) was found ideal. Aonla It in generally planted at a distance of 6-7 m. High yielding varieties such as NA 7, Krishna and Chakia can successfully be grown

under HDP concept at a spacing of 3m by 3 m under hexagonal or triangular systems accommodating over 1,200 plants per ha. Cashew It is normally planted at 7.5m x 7.5m or 8m x 8 m (100-177 plants/ha). In case of high density planting, 312 - 625 or higher grafts/ha are planted at a closer spacing of 4 m x 4 m or 6m x 6m or 5m x 5m in the initial stage followed by thinning out in the later years there by maintaining a spacing of 8m x 8m in the 11 t h year. It gives rise to four-fold increase in yield up to 6 years and about 2.5 fold increases up to 12 years. Arecanut It is normally planted at a spacing of 2.7m x 2.7m under square, rectangular, triangular and quincunx systems of planting. Growing of several crops in association with arecanut is a common accepted practice by farmers of hill zones of Karnataka to utilize both the vertical and horizontal space in multi-storeyed cropping systems. Several arecanut based mixed cropping systems revealed highest nut yield in arecanut + pepper + cardamom and arecanut+ pepper + cocoa cropping systems. Conclusion: In recent year, the concept of fruit production is under going a change where emphasis is being given to higher production per unit area. High density planting system is the fastest way of reducing the gestation period and simultaneously increasing the productivity of the orchards. The choice of the system of planting in the orchard depends on topography, crop, variety, plant density, production technology to obtain desirable aim.