Suitable Stage of Female Inflorescence on Fruit Setting of Date Palm Trees

Abstract

     The objective of this research was to study suitable stage of date palm female inflorescence which able to give the highest fruit setting for increasing efficiency of farmer pollination program. The experiment was taken on the-8-year-old KL1 date palm tree which was planted in Chiang Mai Agricultural Research and Development Center, Pong Nam Ron Sub-district, Fang District, Chiangmai Province in January-March of 2019 and 2020. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. KL1 date palm pollens which collected from fully opened male inflorescence were used for hand pollination on five different stages of female inflorescence: on first day the spathe began to open, and on 2, 4, 6 and 8 days after spathe opened. In each year, after 3 months of the pollination result suggested that the highest percentage of fruit setting was observed in pollination on female inflorescence at the first day of spathe opened and 2 days after then (in range 77.5-83.5%). However, pollination on female inflorescence at 4, 6 and 8 days after spathe opened gave the lower percentage of fruit setting respectively.