Production of dragon fruit under partial shade of aonla tree: a climate resilient agro- technology

Abstract

Aonla based multistoried production system is a climate resilient agro-technology to mitigate the
devastating effects of climate change by offering multidimensional benefits. The goal of the present
trail was to evaluate the performance and profitability of dragon fruit under shade of aonla tree. Three
production systems were used as three treatments i.e. T1 (multi-storied), T2 (double storied) and T3
(open field) with two dragon fruit genotypes such as V1: Red fleshed dragon fruit and V2: White
fleshed dragon fruit. Data on temperature, photosynthetically active radiation, yield and benefit cost
ratio (BCR) were evaluated. The temperature was reduced by 1.77 ℃ and 1.27 ℃ in T1 and T2
treatment, respectively. The maximum photosynthetically active radiation was the highest in T3
treatment (1503.36μ mol m-2s-1) followed by T2 (1181.70 μ mol m-2s-1) and the lowest in T1 (1128.22
μmol m-2s-1). The highest fruit yield per plant (9.01 kg plant-1) and BCR (5.04) were recorded in T2
treatment with red fleshed dragon fruit. The result revealed that red fleshed genotype of dragon fruit
was found as suitable and profitable for partial shade of multi-storied production system.