Effect of rainfall and temperature on sun burn and fruit cracking in litchi

Abstract

The sun burn and fruit cracking in litchi were high in 2019 (10.5% and 10.1%) when temperature was high with low rainfall during fruit growth while low in 2017 (1.9% and 3.7%) when temperature was low. Lack of soil moisture and high temperature reduced the fruit weight in Kasba cultivar by (26.2%) and rainfall induced cracking in the cultivars Bedana and Early Bedana. The cultivars having higher relative water content and cuticle thickness reflected in low fruit cracking and vice-versa. These results may be helpful to identify suitable cultivars for preventive measures to reduce sun burn and fruit cracking in litchi.

Keywords

• Sun burn, Fruit cracking, FST, RWC, Temperature