Flowering and Fruit sett in Litchi

1. FLOWERING AND FRUIT SET IN LITCHIFLOWERING AND FRUIT SET IN LITCHI
HASEENA BIBI
11-41-323
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2. INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION
Scientific Name-
Litchi chinensis
Family-Sapindaceae
Litchi is a delicious fruit
and generally consumed
as a table fruit, fruit is a
drupe ;
fleshy aril covering the
seed is edible.
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3. ORIGIN AND HISTORYORIGIN AND HISTORY
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 Litchi is indigenous to Southern China,
particularly the provinces of Kwangtung and
Fukien.
 Litchi has been growing in China for over
3000 years.
 Chinese consider this as most unique gift of
nature owing to its irresistible taste and
attraction as fruit.

4. AREA ,PRODUCTION ANDAREA ,PRODUCTION AND
PRODUCTIVITYPRODUCTIVITY4
 China , India ,Thailand ,Taiwan ,Australia ,
Madagascar, South Africa , Mauritius, Hawaii ,
Myanmar and West Indies are the eminent litchi
producers.
 India ranks second in the world in respect of area
and production.
 AREA-80,000ha,PRODUCTION-5.4l.tons,
PRODUCTIVITY-6.9t/ha
 Major growing areas in India lie in
Bihar,UP,Tripura,Punjab,WB,AP and Karnataka.

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6. Nutritional value per 100 gNutritional value per 100 g
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ENERGY 276 kJ(66 kcal)
CARBOHYDRATES 16.53 g
SUGARS 15.23 g
DIETARY FIBRES 1.3 g
FAT 0.44 g
PROTEIN 0.83 g

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Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.011 mg (1%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2 0.065 mg (5%)
Niacin (vit. B3) 0.603 mg (4%)
Vitamin B6
0.1 mg (8%)
Folate (vit. B9) 14 g (4%)μ
Vitamin C 71.5 mg (86%)
Ca 5 mg (1%)
Fe 0.13 mg (1%)
Mg 10 mg (3%)
Mn 0.055 mg (3%)
P 31 mg (4%)
K 171 mg (4%)
Na 1 mg (0%)
Zn 0.07 mg (1%)

8. MORPHOLOGY OF FLOWER ANDMORPHOLOGY OF FLOWER AND
FRUITFRUIT
 INFLORESCENCE
 Terminal or axillary
arising from axils of 1st
or
2nd
upper most leaf of
new shoot.
 Bears tiny , greenish
white or yellowish
flowers and is branched
racemosely.
 Inflorescence varies from
10 to 35cm in length & 5
to 30cm in spread.
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9. MORPHOLOGY OF FLOWER ANDMORPHOLOGY OF FLOWER AND
FRUITFRUIT
 FLOWERS
 Individual flowers of litchi are
borne in profusion on the axis of
3rd
order , occasionally on main
axis of inflorescence.
 Has several multiple branched
panicles.
 Has compound racemose
inflorescence, flowers occur in
cymes.
Cymes constitutes ,varies during
the flowering season with
regards to sexuality of flowers.
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10. MORPHOLOGY OF FLOWER ANDMORPHOLOGY OF FLOWER AND
FRUITFRUIT
 FRUIT
 Fruit of litchi is one seeded nuts,
usually develop in bunches. The
fruits tend to be 3-5cm in
diameter and usually oval in
shape.
 The fruits have a thin leathery
shell (pericarp) which turns
pinkish red when the fruit is
ripe. The aril or edible portion
which separates easily ,lies
under the pericarp and
completely surrounds the seed
 The pulp is translucent ,pearly
white and soft in texture
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11. SIX TYPES OF CYMES ARE FOUNDSIX TYPES OF CYMES ARE FOUND
IN LITCHI (Banerji &IN LITCHI (Banerji &
Chaudhary,1994)Chaudhary,1994)
I. Cymes composed entirely of male flowers.
II. Cymes composed entirely of female flowers.
III. Cymes terminating into a male flower with the
lateral female flowers.
IV. Cymes terminating into a female with the
lateral male flowers.
V. Cymes terminating into a female flowers with
the lateral flowers of different sexes.
VI. Cymes terminating into a male flowers with the
lateral flowers of different sexes.
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12. FLOWERING AND FRUIT SETFLOWERING AND FRUIT SET
 FLOWERING
 In North India , flowering takes place in feb. Opening of flowers starts in
2nd
or 3rd
week of march. Flowering period ranged from 26 to 35 days in
different varieties
 In Eastern India , the emergence of flower panicle starts during 2nd
week
of march and continues up to second week of April in different cultivars.
The total duration of flowering in different varieties ranges from 25 to 40
days.
 Time of flower initiation depends on genotype and environmental
conditions.
Temperature has a vital role in floral initiation of litchi. It is reported that
floral initiation occurs about 3-4 weeks after min. daily temperature falls
below 10๐
C(BATTEN & LAHAV,1981).
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13. FLOWERINGFLOWERING
 High soil moisture prior to flowering is conducive to vegetative growth
,in turn suppressing flowering ,while low soil moisture restricts
vegetative flushing and promotes flowering.
 Intra plant variation in flushing and shoot growth pattern influences
overall floriferousness of litchi plant.
 Higher shoot girth and larger number of leaves per unit of shoot length
in the second flush is a crucial factor for flower bud differentiation(Das
et al.,2004)
 Number of flowers in a panicle depends on
 Cultivar
 Age and vigour of tree
 Environmental conditions.
 Proportion of functional female flowers , which indicates number of
fruits ,varies from 10 to 60% depending on varietal character and local
condition.
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14. POLLINATIONPOLLINATION
An individual flower is self sterile but it possesses
nectar. The pollination of flower requires insects
like honeybees , flies ,ants and wasp.
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FRUIT SETFRUIT SET
With the successful pollination of the flower , a burst of growth of the erstwhile
ovary occurs and development of a fruit begins.This usually happens with a
simultaneous wilting and abscission of the petals and sometimes of stamens .
Not all flowers which are produced on the panicles bear fruits.Most of the
Flowers are either male or pseudohermaphrodite.,thus a small proportion of
female flower are produced and a limited no. of flowers have successful
pollination & fertilisation.
The fruit set ranges from1 to 48 % depending upon the cultivar,nature of tree,
vigour & Environmental conditions.
Increase in fruit set can be achieved by spraying IAA(40ppm) or NAA(20ppm) or
2,4-D(10ppm)GA3 (25ppm) ,0.5 % of Borax,0.5% ZnSo4 in certain varieties.
In cultivar Dehradun,application of NAA(2.5ppm) and Zinc (200ppm) sprays
increased initial and final fruit sets respectively.Enhancement in fruit weight , length
, diameter and length/diameter ratio resulted with Zinc (100ppm)
(Sharma et al.,2005)
3 sprays are given -at flower opening,15 days after 1st
spray & another after 15 days

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17. FRUIT DROPFRUIT DROP
 Fruit drop is a serious problem in litchi.
 Immediately after fruit set, premature fruit drop
starts and it continues till maturity.
 Maximum fruits drop in the initial 15-30 days,
intensity being influenced by variety ,
environment and cultural practise followed.
Main reasons for fruit drop are
 Failure of fertilisation ,embryo abortion ,
nutritional and harmonal imbalance ,moisture
stress, high temperature,low humidity and strong
winds.
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18.  Spraying synthetic auxin , 3-5-6 Trichloro-2-phridyl-
oxyacetic acid (3-5-6 TPA) at 50 ppm on the cultivars, TPA
reduced natural fruit drop .
 Effect of chemicals and PGR on fruit drop and cracking
-KMnO4 (2.0 & 4.0 %) & CaNO3 (1.0 %) delayed the colour
break stage by 4 days and increased the fruit retention by
18.0 & 26.0 %, respectively.
 To prevent fruit drop,trees are sprayed with 0 .1-0.2% urea
,sometimes with 0.2% magnesium sulphate.
 2,4,5- trichlorophenoxyacetic acid & alphanapthaleneacetic
acid as drop stop.
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19. REFERENCE
 Misra,k.k.2011.Subtropical Fruit Culture.Kalyani
Publisher.
 Radha.T&Mathew.L.2007.Fruit Crops.New India
Publishing Agency
 Verma,L.R &Jindal, K.K.Fruit Crop
Pollination.Kalyani Publisher
 www.lycheeonline.com
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20. conclusion
 Studying flowering and fruit pattern will,help us
to know the plant better and its cultivation can
be widened. It is gaining popularity in foreign
market,and is money earning crop.
 Also,litchi occupies special position due to its
high nutritive value.
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21. Thank You