COMPARISON BETWEEN MECHANICAL AND HAND POLLINATION OF SHAHANI DATES

Two experiments were conducted in 1988 and 1989 to compare the effects of machine and hand pollination on fruit set, size and yield of Phoenix dactylifera L. cv. Shahani, and also to determine the optimum time for pollen application by a newly developed mechanical pollinator. Pollen application on days one to five after spathe opening did not affect yield per bunch significantly, although high yield was obtained on day 3 after spathe opening. Mechanical pollination increased fruit set and reduced fruit size. Overall fruit yield per bunch was better with mechanical pollination than with hand pollination when treatments were applied on separate palms but no significant difference was observed on the same palms.