Calcium is a very poorly translocated nutrient in the flesh of apple fruits with the advancement of growth. Within the fruit, movement is further restricted towards distal portion relative to proximal. Even numerous foliar applications of calcium do not always achieve the desired effect. Thus, the objective of this study was to enhance the calcium allocation in distal parts of apple fruit in response to whole plant application of abscisic acid (ABA). Five-year-old apple plant of Super Chief Sandidge on M9 were treated with ABA (Abscisic acid) @ 400ppm, calcium chloride @ 0.4% and water (Control) at four stages (30, 65, 100 and 135 days after full bloom (DAFB), and then analyzed for xylem functionality and calcium allocation in leaf and various fruit tissues at 10 days after each treatment i.e., S1-40; S2-75; S3-110 and S4-145 DAFB. The results obtained showed that xylem functionality started impairing just after S2, consequently the calcium allocation was also reduced in middle and calyx portions of fruit after that stage. However, xylem functionality was significantly retained (up to 30%) in ABA-treated fruits at S4 stage, which in other treatments was found to be nil at the calyx end of the fruit. This retention of xylem tissue functionality enhanced allocation of calcium from roots in middle and calyx end of the apple fruit. Leaf calcium was reduced with ABA applications. With the enhancement of calcium in the fruits, increases in soluble solids content (SSC) and titratable acidity were observed at maturity.

All plants require a sufficient supply of essential nutrients to reach their potential, and deficiency of any single nutrient is enough to limit yield. Supply of adequate quantities of nutrients is essential for sustainable high yield and good quality fruits over a long period. The nutritional requirements are different during the vegetative and reproductive growth stages, thus these requirements must be met as per their needs. Nutritional requirements are ascertained through soil chemical analysis, leaf analysis and loss of nutrients through crop production. Due to the effective role of macro and micronutrients in orchard productivity, nutrient management has become as important as other cultural practices in high density orchards. Nutrient management is simply based on 4R's concept i.e right source, right rate, right time and right method. The phenological period and frequency of uptake determine the application time and the quantity of nutrient to be applied. Different methods of fertilization are used in fruit production, including fertilization with mineral fertilizers (conventional type), fertigation, foliar nutrition and a range of other methods. Due to various reasons, in high density orchards priority is given to fertigation and foliar nutrition. The high effectiveness of fertigation results from the possibility of applying optimal concentrations of fertilizing solutions and a

A research experiment was conducted on two fruit bearing exotic cultivars "Carmen" and "Abate Fetel" of pear (Pyrus communis L.). The treatments included self, open and cross pollination of these two maternal parents with seven pollinizers viz., "William Bartlett", "Fertility", "Clapp's Favourite", "Chinese Sandy Pear", "Max Red Bartlett", "Kings Pear" and "Beurre de Amanalis". The design of experiment was RCBD with three replications and the number of treatment combinations were 18. Pollen source affected the fruit colour significantly, wherein the highest value of red colour based on 'a' value was recorded with the pollen of "Max Red Bartlett" in the combination 'Carmen × Max Red Bartlett' (a=25.81) whereas, it was lowest with the pollen of "Kings Pear" (a=-16.63) in the combination 'Abate Fetel × Kings Pear', fruit shape, pedicle length and number of lenticles remain unaffected with the pollenizers used, however, sensory characteristics varied significantly with the pollenizers used.

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