Jaffar Ali Jagirani1, Ameer Ahmed Mirbahar1, Muhammad Mahmood-ur-Rahman Jamro2, Muzafar Hussain Sirohi1 and Zulfiqar Ali Abbasi2
1 Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Sindh – Pakistan
2 Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Agricultural College Dokri, Larkana, Sindh-Pakistan
Jagirani, J. A., Mirbahar, A. A., Jamro, M. R., Sirohi, M. H. & Abbasi, Z. A. (2024). Assessment of male types for pollination in commercial date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) varieties cultivated at Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 30(5), 813–820
In Sindh province of Pakistan, Date palm growers always use pollens of wild male plants or any other type of male spathes, which are available in the market. That present study was aimed to identify potential male for pollination to obtain better yield. Five male types (viz; M1, M2, M3, M4 and M5) were identified on morphometric basis and pollens of these males were applied on two commercial female varieties i.e., Aseel and Gajar. Maximum results were recorded in Gajar variety with application of M1; weight of single bunch (9.12 kg), yield plant-1 (39.62 kg) at flesh stage, (10.50 g) single fruit weight at flesh stage, (2.03 cm) fruit diameter at flesh stage, (15.99) number of fruits strand-1, (4.68 cm) fruit length at mature fruit dev=elopment stage, (4.35 cm) at flesh stage, (2.32 cm) fruit diameter at mature stage and minimum (1.22 cm) seed stone length.
Results regarding the various male type characters depicted that, maximum (31.20 feet) plant height M2, (11.29 inch) frond length M4, (177.43) number of leaflets frond-1 M4, (23.21) number of spines frond-1M1, (6.03feet) trunk diameter of lower plant portion M2, middle (5.70 feet) M4 and upper (5.43 feet) M4, number of spathe male-1 (19.55) M4, the number of flowers 6417.5, 5498.6 and 4620.3 was produced by large, medium, and small spathes respectively by M4. According to results M1 performed better on yield and yield contributing parameters of Gajar as compare to Aseel, hence it is recommended for future as a potential male. As per results, all male types were established diversely in morphometric and reproductive characteristics.