Abstract

                                Aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) is one of the important minor fruit and a crop of commercial significance, quite hardy, prolific bearer and highly remunerative even without much care. In Coorg, existing cropping system of coffee based Coorg mandarin cultivation is not remunerable due to prevalence of greening diseases and various other factors. Therefore, there is need to diversify the existing crops that can be suited well for the region. With this background, the present study was taken up with seven different aonla cultivars namely, Kanchan, NA-6, NA-7, NA-10, Krishna, Chakaiya and BSR-1 at Central Horticultural Experiment Station, Chettalli, Kodagu District, Karnataka to their adaptability under Coorg region. Theobservations on growth parameters (collar diameter and diameter at breast height) after three years of planting showed significant differences, which ranged from 4.36 and 1.99cm in Kanchan to 8.00 and 5.69cm in BSR- 1, respectively. The yield (average of 5th and 6th year) ranged from 9.00 kg/plant in NA-7 to 25.93 kg/plant in BSR-1. Observations on physico-chemical characters of fruits indicated significant variations for both quantitative and qualitative characters. The fruit weight ranged from 21.42 g in ‘BSR-1’ to 38.66 gm in the cv ‘Kanchan’. Total soluble solids contents ranged from 8.02o B in cv ‘Kanchan’ to 13.07o B in ‘BSR-1’. The other parameters such as fruit volume, pulp weight, stone weight, pulp-stone ratio and juice content were found more in Kanchan whereas total sugar solids, vitamin C, total sugar, reducing sugar, acidity were recorded maximum in BSR- 1. As for as adaptability is concern BSR- 1 is best suited cultivar in terms of yield and quality parameters followed by Kanchan.

Key words : Adaptability, Physicochemical properties, Quality, Aonla cultivars, Coorg