Performance of some Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) Germplasm Accessionsfor Morphological and Physiological Characters under Cold Dry Temperate Conditions of Lahaul and Spiti valley

Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) is a deciduous fruit tree of the family Rosaceae and sub family
Prunoideae mostly grown in mid-hills and dry temperate regions of the country. In the cold
temperate region of Lahaul and Spiti Valley, the productivity of this crop is quite low as
compared to other apricot growing countries. The main reason for its low productivity and fruit
quality is due to its suitability to particular agro-climatic regions. Therefore, it is need of the hour
to identify the variety best suited to a particular agro-ecological condition. In this regard, the
performance study was carried out to evaluate the apricot varieties like New Castle, Kaisha,
Charmagaz, Suffiada, Nari, and Lari Selection. On the basis of evaluation studies results
revealed that the maximum leaf-length (3.60 cm), leaf width (3.51cm), leaf area (36.25cm 2 ), and
petiole length (29.00 mm) was found maximum in cultivar Lari Selection and minimum leaf-
length (2.19 cm), leaf width (2.35 cm), leaf area (29.58 cm 2 ) and petiole length (25.97cm). The
maximum fruit length (44.97 mm) was observed in cultivar Lari Selection and minimum (28.32
mm) in cultivar New Castle, fruit width (44.72 mm) was found maximum in cultivar Charmagaz
and minimum (26.28 mm) in cultivar New Castle whereas fruit weight (43.94 g) was recorded
maximum in cultivar Lari Selection, fruit firmness (6.02 kg/cm 2 ) in cultivar Charmagaz and
minimum fruit weight (28.18 g) and fruit firmness (5.31 kg/cm 2 ) in cultivar Nari. Whereas, the
maximum stone weight (2.71g) was recorded in cultivar Lari Selection and the minimum (1.32g)
in cultivar New Castle. The highest fruits (36.11 kg/tree) and productivity (24.37 t/hac) were
recorded in cultivar Suffaida while, minimum fruits (16.47 kg/tree) and productivity (10.01
t/hac) was recorded in cultivar Lari Selection. Total soluble solids (TSS) were recorded
maximum in cultivar Charmagaz (18.03°B) and minimum (15.67°B) in cultivar New Castle.
Acidity in fruit was recorded highest in Nari (1.50 %) and minimum in Kaisha (1.03 %). Total
sugars in fruit were recorded highest in Charmagaz (14.13%) and minimum in New Castle (9.06
%), highest reducing sugars were observed in Charmagaz (3.11 %) with minimum recorded in
Nari (1.70 %) and non-reducing sugars recorded maximum in Charmagaz (9.93 %) and
minimum was recorded in cultivar Nari (5.11%).