This document provides information on kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa). It originates from China and is known as the "China miracle fruit". It was first introduced to India in Bangalore but did not bear fruit due to lack of winter chilling. It later produced fruit in Shimla. Kiwifruit grows globally including in New Zealand, Italy, and India in states like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand. Pests include passion vine hopper and armored scales. Diseases include bacterial leaf spot and sclerotinia rot. Common varieties discussed are Abbott, Allison, Bruno, Monty, and Hayward.

1. Presented by Davinder Handa
M.Sc. Agri (Horti-Fruit Science)

2. Taxonomical details
Botanical Name : Actinidia deliciosa
Family : Actinidiaceae
Genus : Actinidia
Species : deliciosa
Chromosome No. : 58
Origin : China
Other names : Chinese gooseberry,
China miracle

3. Introduction
– The kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) is a deciduous fruiting vine native
of south and central China.
– This is known as “China’s miracle fruit” and “ Horticulture wonder of
New Zealand”.
– In India, it was first introduced at Lal Bagh garden, Banglore, but the
plant did not come in to bearing due to lack of chilling requirement
during winter for its bud break.
– Later on, in 1963, it was introduced in Shimla hills, where the plant
came in to bearing in 1969.
– Kiwifruit is rusty brown with hairy surface and looks like a spota fruit.
– It is rich in Vitamin-C.

4. Distribution
– In World :- It is commonly grown in n New Zealand,
China, USA, Italy, France, Australia, Israel and India.
– In India :- It grows in in mid hills of Himachal Pradesh,
J&K, Uttarkhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya,
Nagaland and Nilgiri hills of south India.

5. Area and Production
– Area under kiwifruits in India is 4 thousand
ha and production is 12 thousand MT.
Source- NHB (2017-18)

6. Climate
– Kiwi is a deciduous vine which can withstand wide
climatic conditions.
– However, for high yield quality fruits, it requires
700-800 chilling hours below 7 ⁰C to break its rest
period in the winter otherwise the bud break may be
delayed.
– A rainfall of about 150 cm/year is sufficient.

7. Soil
– It can be grown on a wide range of soils but deep,
rich, well drained sandy loam soils are ideal.
– A soil pH slightly less than 6.9 results in maximum
yield but higher pH up to 7.3 affects adversely
because of Mn deficiency.

8. Varieties
1. Abbott
– This is an early flowering and early maturing cultivar.
– The oblong, medium sized, fruits are covered with dense hairs.
– They are very sweet in taste with lower ascorbic acid content
and medium titratable acidity.
2. Allison
– Fruits resemble those of Abbott, except that these are slightly
broader in proportion to its length.
– The petals of its flowers are overlapping. It is an early ripening,
heavy bearer and sweet in taste.
– Ascorbic acid and titratable acidity are on the lower side.
– This variety is most suited for Himachal Pradesh

9. 3. Bruno
– This cultivar requires comparatively less chilling period.
– The fruits are tapering in shape towards the stem end.
– They are longest among all the cultivars.
– The fruits is dark brown having very dense, short and bristly hair, highest in
ascorbic acid and titratable acidity.
– The bearing is very heavy.
4. Tomuri
– It is a good pollenizer for Hayward and Monty, the late flowering kiwi.
– Flowers appear usually in groups of 5.

10. 5. Monty
– It is a late flowering cultivar but fruit maturity is not late.
– The fruits are oblong, resembling those of Abbot and Allison.
– Being a highly prolific bearer cultivar, sometimes it needs hand thinning for
obtaining good sized fruits.

11. 6. Hayward
– Most popular cultivar or the world.
– The fruit is broad and flat, being much wider in relation to length.
– It is superior in flavour with high sugar and ascorbicacidcontent.
– Itrequirescomparatively more chilling hours.

13. Rootstocks
– Bruno – Most widely used rootstock in NZ even In
India also, as it is having high vigour and
germination %.

14. Propagation
1. Hard wood cutting
– Hard wood cuttings are prepared during the dormant season
(January-February) from the previous year summer growth.
– The cuttings are treated with IBA (500 ppm) for 10 seconds
and set deeply in moist rooting medium.

15. Production of nursery plants of
kiwifruit

16. Propagation of kiwifruit
through cuttings

17. – Kiwi plants are also propagated by grafting.
– Though it takes almost two years to develop a nursery plant through
grafting or budding onto the seedlings but this method is easiest and most
economical.
– The kiwi plants can be raised through tongue grafting of kiwi seedlings
during January- February.
Grafting

18. Planting
– Land having very gentle slope is ideal for it.
– If possible its rows should be oriented in a north south direction to avail
maximum sunlight.
– Preparation of pits, mixing of farmyard manure and filling of pits should be
completed by December.
– In T-bar, a spacing or 4m from row to row and 5-6 m from plant to plant is
common.
– January is ideal time for planting.
– The soil should be firmly placed around the roots.
– Chinese gooseberry is a dioecious plant; therefore, interplanting of male plants
is essential for fruit production.
– In India, only 2 male clones-Tomuri and Allison are generally interplanted.
Planting male and female plants in a 1:9 ratio is common.

19. Training
– The main aim of training is to establish and maintain a well
formed framework of main branches and fruiting arms.
– The supporting branches should be erected even before
planting the vines or thereafter as early as possible.
– This training is known as T-bar or overload trellis/ telephone
system.

21. Pruning
– The vine should grow 2-4 m every year which may become
over crowded and unmanageable if not controlled by both
summer and winter pruning.
– The fruits develop only on current season’s growth.
– Thus pruning in kiwi should be carried out in such a way
that the fruiting areas are available every year requiring the
wood to be young.

23. Pollination
– For a good yield of fruit, one male vine for every three to
eight female vines is required.
– Kiwifruit is notoriously difficult to pollinate, because the
flowers are not very attractive to bees.

25. Manuring and fertilization
– Thus N, P and K should be applied on yearly basis, while the other
elements on requirement basis.
– Generally, a basal dose of 20 kg farmyard manure, 0.5 kg NPK mixture
containing 15% N is applied each year.
– After five years of age, 850-900g N, 500-600g P, 800-900 g K and
farmyard manure should be applied every year.
– The N fertilizer should be applied in two equal doses, half to two thirds
in January-February and the rest after fruit set in April- May.

26. Irrigation
– Kiwi plants require much water due to their vigorous vegetative growth,
leaf size, vine habit and high humidity in their natural habitat.
– Therefore, it cannot be successfully grown in rain fed areas.
– Irrigation is also needed during September and October when the fruit is
in initial stage for growing and development.
– Irrigation at 10-15 days interval is quite satisfactory for good economic
returns.

27. Harvesting and postharvest
management
– It takes 4-5 years for a kiwi vine to start bearing worthwhile fruits and 7-
8 years for commercial production.
– The harvesting period varies from area to area.
– Under Solan conditions, the fruits can be harvested from October end to
third week of November depending upon cultivars, whereas under
Shimla condition, the fruits are harvested from last week of November to
December.
– Kiwi fruits having 6.2% TSS are ideal for harvesting. But delay in
harvesting deteriorates their storability.

28. – At least two pickings are made.
– Larger sized berries should be harvested first while smaller ones should be
allowed to increase in size and improve in quality.
– After harvesting, the fruits are rubbed with a coarse cloth to remove stiff
hairs found on their surface.
– Hard fruits are transported to the market. Subsequently, they lose their
firmness in two weeks at room temperature and become edible.
– On an average, kiwi yield varies from 50 to 100 kg fruits/ vine. Vines on
trellis produce about 25 tons/ ha after seven years.

29. Storage
– The fruits can be kept in a good condition in a cool place without refrigeration
up to eight weeks.
– It can be kept for 4-6 months in a cool storage at -0.6 ⁰C to 0 ⁰C.
– In India, there are no grading standards for kiwi.
– In international market, fruit weight of 72 kg is the minimum for export while
100 g is the preferred weight. In India the fruits weighting 70 g and above are
graded as ‘A’ grade fruits and between 40 and 70 g are graded ‘B’grade fruits.
– Since there is no standard package for kiwi fruits, card board boxes of 3-4 kg
capacity are generally used for packing.

30. Insect and Pest
1. Passion vine Hopper
Damage
– They suck sap from succulent shoots and the result is
distortion of fruit and leaves.
– Plants will get stunted, wilted and dieback overall.

31. Management
 Spray methyl parathion 50 EC 2 ml/litre or Quinalphos 1.5 % per vine.

32. 2. Armored Scales

33. Damage
– Scale insects feed on plant fluids and can be located on the bark or fruit of
kiwi. Heavy infestations affect the vigor of the plant and result in the
presence of scales on fruit, causing it to be off graded.
Management
Natural enemies of scale:
Predators: Minute pirate bugs, and Ladybird beetle.

34. Diseases
1. Bacterial leaf spot
Symptoms
– Itincludeangularshapedspots,oftenassociated with a halo, brown
discolouration of buds.
– In advanced stages of infection, the leakage of red-rusty
gum. Not all symptoms appear at the same time.

35. Bacterial leaf spot

36. Management
– Spray 1 % Bordeaux mixture or Copper oxychloride 2.5
g/lit.

37. Sclerotinia rot
Disease symptoms:
• Infected fruit and stem first appear water soaked.
• Fluffy white cottony fungal growth is seen on infected
area.
• Small hard black fungal structures known as sclerotia.
• Fruits are often infected through the blossom end and
became rotted and watery sclerotia may be inside these
rotted fruits.
Management
•Spray 1 % Bordeaux mixture per vine

38. Sclerotinia rot

39. Disorders
1. Freezing
– Freezing damage can occur on early picked kiwifruit when
stored at temperatures below 0°C (32°F) or when subjected
to an early frost in the vineyard.
2. Hard-Core
– This disorder is induced by exposure of kiwifruit to ethylene
plus carbon dioxide levels above 8 percent. The fruit core
fails to ripen when the remainder of the fruit is soft and ripe

40. References
– www.hortiagri.com
– www.agritech.tnau.ac.in
– www.niphm.gov.in

41. THANK YOU
HAVE A NICE DAY