ساسان راستگو

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is an important fruit crop in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Date palm is one of the ancient domestic fruit trees in the Middle East countries and their fruits play an important role in the nutrition pattern of many people. Date fruit has obtained the fifth rank, after citrus, mango, banana and pineapple, in total of tropical and subtropical fresh fruits. Limitation of date palm propagation through off-shoat especially in case of elite cultivars, is a serious obstacle in expanding Date palm plantations. Today, plant tissue culture technology as a commercial propagation method provides the propagules of some cultivars needed for expanding Date palm plantations. However, one of the major draw bakes of propagation by this technology is appearance of abnormal phenotypes such as delay in flowering, low levels of fruit-setting and setting of parthenocarpic multicarpel fruits. Low levels of normal fruit-setting through producing high rate of three carpel fruite and high rate of fruitlets drop is usual particularly in tissue culture derived ‘Barhi’ plants and som other prone cultivars that leads to economical loss to the growery. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of foliar and bunch spraying with boric acid and zinc sulfat on fruit-setting and quantitative and qualitative characteristics of fruits of tissue culture-derived Barhi trees. This study was conducted as factorial in completely randomized block design with replicates on 12-years-old tissue culture derived Barhi trees in Dashtestan Date palm and Tropical fruits research station in 2012. Boric acid and zinc sulfate each at 0.5, 1 and 2 g/L were sprayed individually and in combination( 0.5 0.5, 1 1 and 2 2 g/L). distilled water was also sprayed as control treatment. Spraying was done thrice . firse attempt was about 2 weeks befor spath emergence in case of foliar spraying and 4 hours before pallination for bunch spraying. The secand and third spraying was