Effect of Pollen Source on Productivity of Medjool Date Palm Trees

Author : Farouk H. Abd Elaziz; F. F. Ahmed and Hassan A. A. Mohamed

This study was achieved during 2020 and 2021 seasons. The experiment was conducted at private farm located at Western desert rood, Malawi district, Minia Governorate (2400 km southern Cairo city) – Egypt. The target of this investigation was examining the effect of pollen grains source (Ghanami, Jarvis and Boyer pollinators cvs.) on fruit setting, fruit dropping, bunch weight and yield (kg/palm) of Medjool female date palm (phoenix dactylifera L.) grown in sandy soil, well drained water since water table depth is not less than two meters. In addition, the germination and viability of pollen grains of the pollinators were examined. The obtained results showed that, the germination and viability of pollen grains varied significantly in relation to temperature, conservation period and source of pollen grains. However, Ghanami pollen grains present superiority rather than those of Jarvis and Boyer. Using the pollen grains of Ghanami cultivar present the best bunch weigh (kg) and yield (kg/palm) rather than using the two other pollinators (Jarvis and Boyer). Furthermore, increasing the frequencies of pollination (from two to four times) has a significant effect on most studied traits.

Keywords : Medjool date palm, pollen grains, metaxenia, fruit sett, fruit drop, yield.,

Received:9/15/2023 12:00:00 AM; Accepted: 11/8/2023 12:00:00 AM