COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF SOME MALE PALMS IN THREE DISTRICTS IN EGYPT

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Tropical fruit research division, Horticulture Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt.

Abstract

This investigation was carried out at three Egyptian Governorates, i.e.  New Valley (El-Dakhla oasis), Damietta (Kafr El-Batikh) and Wady El-Natron at private orchard during two successive seasons of 2005 and 2006, to evaluate date palm males used for pollination of female palm in these districts. The obtained results showed that, males differed in their morphological spathe characteristics. Time of flowering also differed between males in each governorate. At the NewValley flowering was earlier than at the other two governorates. Viability of pollen grains ranged from 82.9 to 85.2 %. Males from NewValley produced significantly more amount of pollen grain comparing to other regions. The number of retained flowers on strands differed significantly between the three governorates under investigation but the new valley gave the highest percentage of retained flowers on the strands.

Keywords