The present research was conducted at Regional Research Station faculty of agriculture Sher-e- Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir. The present investigation was carried out with the objective of evaluation of different rootstocks of apple for graft-take success and other vegetative characteristics of exotic cultivars of apple in Kashmir conditions. The study consisted of three scion cultivars (Red Chief, Red Velox, Gala Mast) cleft grafted on six different rootstocks (M-9, MM-106, MM-111, M-27, P-22 and seedling). The experiment was laid in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Rootstocks play a vital role in providing better adaptation of scion varieties to various soil and growing conditions, and also improve their growth, precocity, productivity and quality. Most of the existing apple orchards in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir are on seedling rootstocks and have long juvenile period taking years to come into bearing. In Kashmir valley, Delicious group of apple cultivars are predominant and covers almost entire apple plantation. They are characterized by excessive vigour, susceptible to insect pests and diseases and acute biennial bearing tendency. Further, most of Delicious cultivars have similar maturity duration causing glut in market. To get rid of such emblematic situation clonal rootstocks complimented with new exotic cultivars offer a viable solution to this problem. Clonal rootstocks are uniform in growth characteristics and impart desirable characters (dwarfing and precocity) Therefore, this study was initiated to assess the effect of selected rootstocks on graft success, vegetative growth and other characteristics of selected apple cultivars. Data on graft success and other parameters were collected and analyzed using software OP stat. Results revealed that scion rootstock combination significantly (P<0.05) influenced graft success and other vegetative parameters of exotic cultivars of apple. The maximum graft-take success (95. 30%) was recorded in Gala Mast grafted on MM-106 and minimum (84.53%) in Red Chief on seedling. Gala Mast grafted on seedling rootstock registered maximum plant height (110.18cm) and maximum number of leaves/plant (38.97). Least plant height and number of leaves/plant was recorded in Red Chief grafted on M-27 (73.46cm) and (20.77) respectively. The results of this study demonstrated that scion-stock combination had a considerable effect on graft success and other vegetative characteristics of exotic cultivars of apple.

Apple, Rootstock, Cleft Grafting, Vegetative growth, Cultivar

From the perspective of results procured in the present investigation, it can be concluded that morphological parameters viz., graft success, number of leaves & plant height were significantly influenced by the characteristics of both rootstock & scion cultivar, although it was also observed that the rootstock influence was more pronounced than the scion cultivar. Though these are preliminary observations in the initial years of growth which needs to be examined further during subsequent years through comprehensive trials on these graft combinations including studies on fruiting and yield behavior of scion cultivars to draw felicitous conclusions.

Asim Bashir, Nazir Ahmad Ganai, Shahid Qayoom and Mir Wasim Yousuf (2023). Influence of Clonal Rootstocks on Major Morphological Characteristics of Some Exotic Apple Cultivars in Northern Himalayas of Kashmir Valley. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(8): 58-64.