The document discusses the taxonomy, species, characteristics, cultivation practices, and post-harvest handling of apricots. Apricots are classified in the plant kingdom as Prunus armeniaca in the family Rosaceae. They are small trees that produce yellow to orange fruit. They grow best in temperate climates with chilling winter temperatures and require well-drained soil and irrigation during fruit development. Common varieties grown in India include Charmagz, Kaisa, and Moorpark. Apricots are propagated through grafting and budding and require pruning, fertilization, and pest management. Fruit is harvested when the skin turns yellow and can be stored fresh or processed.

1. Apricot
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2. Taxonamy
• Kingdom: Plantae
• Order: Rosales
• Family: Rosaceae
• Subfamily: Maloideae or Spiraeoideae
• Genus: Prunus
• Subgenus: Prunus
• Section: Armeniaca
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3. Species
• P. armeniaca :Apricot
• P. brigantina :Briançon apricot, marmot plum
• P. mandshurica:Manchurian apricot and Scout apricot
• P. mume :Chinese plum, Japanese apricot
• P. sibirica :Siberian apricot
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4. Prunus armeniaca- apricots
• The apricot is a small tree, 8–12 m tall, with a trunk up to 40
cm in diameter and a dense, spreading canopy
• leaves- ovate, 5–9 cm long and 4–8 cm wide, with a rounded
base, a pointed tip and a finely serrated margin.
• flowers- 2–4.5 cm in diameter, with five white to pinkish
petals; produced singly or in pairs in early spring before the
leaves
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5. Contd…
• Fruit- drupe, 1.5–2.5 cm diameter from yellow to orange,
often tinged red on the side most exposed to the sun; its
surface can be glabrous or velvety with very short hairs
(pubescent)
• Flesh- usually firm, taste can range from sweet to tart, The
single seed is enclosed in a hard, stony shell, often called a
"stone" or "kernel", with a grainy, smooth texture except for
three ridges running down one side
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6. Climate
• Temperate crop
• White flushed, sweet kernelled apricot- cooler, dry climate
upto 3000m above msl
• Yellow fleshed, bitter kernelled apricot- warmer climate,
midhills(900-1500m msl)
• Chilling -300- 900 hrs below 7°C
• Frost free warm spring –favorable for fruting
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7. Contd…
• Average summer temperature: 16.6- 32.2°C ,for quality fruit
production
• Annual rainfall requirement - 100cm, well distributed
throughout the season
• Lower temperature in spring(<4°C)- blossom damage
• High humidity in summer- incidence of brown rot
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8. Soil
• Can grow on most of soil
• Deep fertile, well drained loamy soil in better
• pH- 6- 6.8
• Cultivated areas- Himachal Pradesh, J&K, UP, NE hills
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9. Varieties
• Himachal Pradesh
• Midhills- New Castle, Early Shipley, Shakarpara
• Highhills- Karisha, Nugget, Royal, Suffaida, Charmagz, Nari
• Dry temperate- Charmagz, Suffaida, Shakarpara, Kaisha
• Uttar Pradesh- Charmagz, Kaisa, Moorpark, Turkey, St.
Ambroise, early Shipleys, Chaubattia
Alankar, Chaubattia Madhu, Chaubattia
kesri, bebeco
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10. Contd…
• Ladak- Halman, Rakchakarpa, Tokpopa, Margulam, Narmu,
Khante
• Kashmir- Turkey, Austalian, Charmagz, Rogan, Shakarpara
• New varieties for mid hills
• Early maturing- Baiti, Beladi
• Late maturing- Farmingdale, Alfred
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11. Propagation
• Tongue grafting- done in February
• Pencil thick shoots are used
• T-budding- in June
• Chip budding- in September
• Cleft grafting- for rejuvenation of plant
Tongue grafting
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12. Rootstocks
• Rootstocks- Wild apricot, wild peach
• In heavy soil and high moisture- Myrobalan plum is used
• Root stock raised by seedlings
• Seed treatments
• Stratification- 45-50 days at 4°C
• Soaking for 24 hrs in-500ppm GA3/ 5ppm Kinetin
• Sowing- 6-10cm deep, 20x30 spacing
• Root stock used after 1 year
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13. Planting
• Planting done in dormant season (December- March)
• Pit size- 1x1x1m
• Pit filled with- soil, 50-60 kg FYM, 1kg SSP, 10Ltr
chlorpyriphos solution(1%)
• Planting system
• Plains- square, triangular system
• Hill slops- contour system
• Spacing- 6x6m
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14. Training
• Training system- open vase/
modified centrel leader
• Open vase system- more
popular in hilly regions
• At planting-
• whip headed back to 60-70 cm,
3-5 side shoots are allowed to
grow in all direction
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15. Contd…
• First dormant season-
• 3-5 spirally arranged, well shaped primary branches(crouch angle
45°) are selected
• Lowest branch at 40-45 cm above ground level
• Primary scaffold branches are headed back to half of its length
• Second dormant season-
• 5-7 well spaced secondary scaffold branches are selected on each
branch
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16. Pruning
• Pruning is done from third year onwards
• Thinning of over crowded branches and removal of diseased
and weak branches are done
• Spurs are formed on one year old root stocks and last for 3-4
years
• In older trees one year old shoots are thinned to 25-30%
• Chaubattia paste is applied after pruning
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17. Manuring and fertilization
• For mature trees
• FYM- 40 kg/tree/ year
• N:P2O5:K2O-500:250:200 g/tree/year
• FYM and full dose of P & K applied in December- January
• Nitrogen in 2 doses
• 1st half - 2-3 weeks before flowering
• 2nd half -In irrigated area- one month later 1st dose
-In rainfed area- at onset of monsoon or as foliar
spray(.5%)
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18. After care
• Wee control- chemical or mechanical means
• Inter cropping- pea, bean, soybean, cowpea
• Fruit thinning
• for improves fruit size, promote regular bearing, maintain tree
vigour, decrease limb breakage
• Done 40 days after full bloom
• Hand thinning-till 2 fruits per spur
• Chemical thinning- 25-50ppm NAA 20 days after fruitset
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19. Irrigation
• Apricot is tolerant to dry atmosphere
• Critical period for irrigation- fruit growth and development
• Peak water useperiod- April end to mid June
• Irrigation done and 20% depletion of soil moistur from field
capacity
• Irrigation interval -10 day in May , 8 days in June
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20. Flowering and fruiting
• Bloom appears in late February to March
• flowers produced singly or in pairs in early spring before the
leaves
• Pollination- self & crosspollination
• Pollinating agent- honey bee, bumble bee
• Fruit mature within 100-120 days from blooming
• fruit is a drupe
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21. Harvesting
• Start yielding from 5 years and continue till 30-35 years
• Fruit maturity- from May to June
• Maturity is indicated by days from full bloom and TSS
• For fresh market- when colour changes from green to yellow
• Fully mature fruits used for freezing, canning, drying
• Harvesting done in morning hours
• Yield-50-80kg/tree
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22. Post harvest handling
• Fruits are precooled, graded and
packed in CFB boxes
• Storage- 1-2 weeks at 0°C and 85-
90% relative humidity
• Value addition- dry fruit
• Important source of carotenoids ,
minerals
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23. Physiological disorders
• Sun burn
• Occur in seedlings due to exposure of bark to sunlight
• Paint bark with white colour
• Gumming of tree
• Caused by high level of water table, acidity in the soil and
irrigation water
• Control: Improve drain system in the orchard
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