J. Appl. Hort., 2(2):130-131, July-December, 2000
Effect of polyethylene on the behaviour and yield of strawberry
(Fragaria x ananassa)
K.K. Pramanick, D.K. Kishore and Y.P. Sharma
IARI Regional Station (Horticulture), Amartara Cottage, Shimla- 171004
Abstract
The use of polyethylene in commercial cultivation of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) can play a pivotal role in minimising
winter injury and plant mortality and increasing productivity. Covering the strawberry beds with low clear plastic tunnels induced one
month early cropping, prevented bed erosion and increased total yields by 20 per cent. The black polyethylene mulched beds did not
require any weeding. During summers (in hills) the polyethylene sheets of the tunnels were replaced by plastic anti-hail nets or antibird nets which resulted in advanced harvest, increased yield and improved fruit quality.
Key words: Strawberry, Fragaria x ananassa, productivity, clear plastic tunnel, black polyethylene, mulch, weeding, anti-hail nets
advanced harvest, fruit quality.
Introduction
The cultivated strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) is an
important soft fruit crop of the world. It has adapted well to
varied climates ranging from temperate to subtropical regions.
It is even being cultivated in the tropics and the arid regions.
Being a shallow rooted, herbaceous plant it is prone to extremes
of weather and to damage by birds, rodents and mammals
because of its too attractive fruits. Investigations were conducted
to evaluate the effectiveness of plastics in minimising damage
to the newly planted strawberry plants and improving their
productivity. Possibility of this has been reported under different
agro-climatic conditions (Albregts, 1993; Shiow et al., 1998).
percent and 15.75 percent of the weed growth observed in the
unmulched strawberry beds. The clear/ translucent polyethylene
mulch was less effective in this respect. The black polyethylene
mulched beds did not require any weeding while the unmulched
beds required weeding at 20 to 30 days intervals during the
period. Difference in the influence of variously coloured plastic
mulches have also been reported earlier (Locascio and Smart,
1968; Himelrick, 1982; Shiow, et al. 1998).
Table 1. Effect of plastic mulches on weed growth in strawberry
plots
Mulch
23rd March 98
6th June 98
Fresh wt. Dry wt. Fresh wt.
basis
basis
basis
(%)
(%)
(%)
Materials and methods
Thirty five strawberry cultivars, representing diverse fruit and
plant characteristics constituted the material for the present study.
The investigation was carried out at the IARI Regional Station
(Horticulture), Shimla during 1996-1998. The observations were
recorded from randomly selected five plants from cultivar in
each replication. Observations were recorded for date of first
flower opening, date of full bloom, number of fruits per plant,
weight of individual fruits, fruit length, fruit width, total soluble
solids, yield per plant and weed growth in both open and
polyethylene covered beds.
The strawberry plants were planted 30 cm apart in rows that
were 45 cm apart. Ten plants were planted in a bed of 150 x 60
cm. All runners produced during the course of the experiment
were removed as soon as they appeared. There were three
replications with five beds of each cultivar in each replicate.
Other recommended agronomic and plant protection measures
were followed for successful strawberry cultivation.
Results and discussion
Black polyethylene mulch in the strawberry beds resulted in
considerable reduction in weed growth (Table 1). It was 28.68
Black polyethylene
Black polyethylene
Unmulched
28.68
62.64
100.00
17.40
56.43
100.00
15.75
16.67
100.00
Dry wt.
basis
(%)
14.29
17.86
100.00
Plot area (150 x 60 cm)
The differences in fruit characteristics as a result of open
cultivation versus use of plastics are presented in Table 2. Under
open conditions the fruit weight varied from 2.l0 g in No. A to
24.38g in Etna. The maximum number of fruits per plant were
harvested from Shimla Delicious (30) followed by No. A (28);
whereas the minimum number of was recorded in Selva and
Etna (10). Yield per plant also varied greatly with cultivars. Etna,
Chandler and Belrubi were high yielders. Both the parameters
of fruit weight and yield per plant were increased by providing
polyethylene cover. The fruit weight, depending on the cultivar
was increased by 14.29 percent to 20.50 percent. Similarly the
yield on per ha basis showed an increase of almost 20 percent as
a result of incorporating plastic usage in strawberry cultivation.
Perusal of Table 2 revealed that covering the strawberry beds
with low plastic tunnels advanced the dates of full bloom by
almost a month in all the varieties under evaluation. The fruit
growth period from full bloom to harvest was reduced by one
Effect of polyethylene on the behaviour and yield of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa)
132
131
Table 2. Flowering and fruit characterstics of strawberry cultivars under polythene cover and open field
Open field
Cultivar
Fruit
wt
(g)
Addie
7.01
Belrubi
10.66
Black More
4.05
Brighton
7.50
Chandler
15.01
Confitura
13.01
Dana
8.50
Dilpasand
3.53
Douglas
16.37
Etna
24.38
Fair Fox
5.01
Fern
8.08
Florida-90
2.50
Gorella
6.10
Howard-17
4.02
Jutogh Special
3.61
Katrain Sweet
2.64
Larson
2.28
Majestic
2.50
Missionary
4.83
N.R. Round Head 4.15
No.5
3.65
No.7
3.89
No.A
2.10
North West
2.22
Pajaro
6.75
Phenomenal
2.17
Red Coat
2.35
S-1
2.58
Sasta
5.07
Selva
17.50
Shimla Delcious 3.50
Tioga
3.03
Torrey
3.53
VL
3.01
Under polyethylene cover
No. of Yield Yield
fruits plant-1 ha-1
plant-1 (g)
(q)
15
20
18
18
15
15
20
22
12
10
21
17
18
18
21
27
16
18
20
18
22
19
24
28
12
23
19
23
19
24
10
30
18
15
21
105.15
213.20
72.90
135.01
225.01
195.15
170.01
77.66
196.44
243.80
105.01
136.01
45.01
109.80
84.01
97.47
42.24
40.32
50.01
86.94
91.30
69.35
93.36
58.80
26.64
155.25
41.23
54.05
49.02
121.68
175.01
105.01
54.54
52.95
63.02
68.35
138.58
47.39
87.76
146.26
126.85
110.51
50.48
127.69
158.47
68.26
88.41
29.26
71.37
54.61
64.82
28.09
26.81
32.51
56.51
59.35
46.11
62.08
38.22
17.32
100.92
27.42
35.13
32.60
79.09
113.76
68.76
35.45
35.21
40.96
Fruit No. of Yield
wt
fruits plant-1
(g) plant-1 (g)
8.43
12.01
4.59
8.50
18.08
15.57
9.97
3.89
18.21
25.01
5.51
9.11
2.79
7.31
4.41
4.03
2.77
2.58
2.71
5.09
4.51
3.97
4.09
2.41
2.31
7.75
2.40
2.57
2.97
5.47
19.21
3.97
3.71
3.97
3.31
15
21
19
19
15
15
20
24
13
12
23
18
20
18
23
29
18
19
22
20
24
21
27
30
15
24
21
25
20
26
11
32
18
16
23
126.45
252.21
87.21
161.50
271.20
233.55
199.40
93.36
236.73
300.12
126.73
163.98
55.80
131.58
101.43
116.87
49.86
49.02
59.62
101.80
108.24
83.37
110.43
72.30
34.65
186.01
50.40
64.25
59.40
142.22
211.31
127.04
66.78
63.52
76.13
day in nine cvs and a maximum of 14 days in cv Majestic.
Cultivar Douglas was not affected at all in this respect. The date
of first flower appearance was advanced by maximum of 78
days in cv Belrubi followed by No. 7 (60 days), Gorella (59
days), Black more (57 days), Larson (53 days), Missionary first
flower appearance was exhibited by cvs Torrey (8 days), followed
by Douglas (9 days), Katrain Sweet (12 days) and N.R. Round
Head (18 days). Similar influence of clear polyethylene winter
mulch on the growth and yield of strawberries has been reported
by Scheel (1982).
Covering the strawberry beds with low plastic tunnels induced
one month early cropping and increased total yields by 20
percent. Winter injury and consequent mortality was appreciably
reduced. During summers, replacement of the plastic sheet of
the tunnels with anti-hail or anti-bird nets resulted in higher yields
Yield
ha-1
(q)
82.19
163.94
56.69
104.98
176.28
151.81
129.61
60.68
153.87
195.08
82.37
106.59
36.27
85.33
65.93
77.72
33.16
32.60
38.75
66.17
70.36
55.44
73.44
47.01
22.52
120.90
33.52
42.73
39.50
92.45
137.35
82.58
44.41
42.24
49.48
Open field
1st
flower
appearacnce
28/2/97
03/4/97
10/3/97
06/3/97
01/3/97
02/3/97
13/4/97
24/3/97
02/3/97
04/3/97
25/3/97
01/3/97
09/3/97
09/3/97
19/3/97
28/2/97
07/3/97
06/3/97
02/3/97
14/3/97
17/3/97
06/3/97
20/3/97
28/2/97
06/3/97
01/3/97
01/3/97
07/4/97
28/2/97
20/3/97
28/2/97
06/4/97
06/3/97
01/3/97
07/3/97
Under polyethylene cover
Full
1st
Fruit
bloom growth flower
date period appea(days) racnce
12/4/97 85
09/2/97
12/4/97 91
11/1/97
3/4/97 60
11/1/97
5/4/97 91
27/1/97
9/3/97 95
11/1/97
16/3/97 110
06/2/97
27/4/97 100
02/3/97
6/4/97 42
05/2/97
13/4/97 78
22/2/97
26/3/97 100
08/2/97
3/4/97 91
08/2/97
5/4/97 75
17/2/97
13/4/97 57
10/2/97
26/3/97 60
08/1/97
10/4/97 88
06/2/97
21/3/97 103
20/1/97
17/4/97 35
24/2/97
31/3/97 97
12/1/97
16/4/97 70
27/1/97
1/4/97 86
20/1/97
20/4/97 55
28/2/97
10/4/97 35
16/1/97
21/4/97 41
20/1/97
24/4/97 65
27/1/97
27/3/97 36
27/1/97
3/4/97 75
06/2/97
1/4/97 75
11/1/97
20/4/97 46
01/3/97
19/3/97 70
10/1/97
5/4/97 90
27/1/97
3/4/97 91
27/1/97
15/4/97 51
19/2/97
7/5/97 57
27/1/97
20/4/97 57
22/2/97
2/4/97 75
18/1/97
Full
Fruit
bloom growth
date period
(days)
12/3/97
83
01/3/97
90
01/3/97
59
20/2/97
86
10/2/97
93
15/2/97 103
26/3/97
36
04/3/97
40
18/3/97
78
28/2/97
98
10/3/97
82
02/3/97
74
12/3/97
56
01/3/97
49
09/3/97
77
01/3/97
90
17/3/97
34
01/3/97
92
10/3/97
56
05/3/97
80
08/3/97
53
10/3/97
27
11/3/97
37
20/3/97
64
27/2/97
30
01/3/97
74
04/3/97
71
20/3/97
36
20/2/97
69
01/3/97
85
02/3/97
90
17/3/97
45
06/4/97
52
20/3/97
51
28/2/97
67
and better fruit quality. Black polyethylene mulching
considerably reduced weed growth.
References
Albergets, E.E. and C.K. Chandler, 1993. Effect of polyethylene mulch
colour fruiting response of strawberry. Proc. Soil Crop Sci. Florida,
52: 40-43.
Hemelrick, D.G. 1982. Effect of polyethylene mulch colour on soil
temperatures and strawberry plant response. Adv. Strawberry Prod.,
1: 15-16.
Locacio, S.J. and G.C. Jr. Smart, 1968. Influence of polyethylene mulch
colours and soil fumigants on strawberry production. Adv.
Strawberry Prod., 1: 29-30.
Wang, S.Y., G.J. Galletta and M.J. Camp, 1998. Mulch types affect
fruit quality and composition of tho strawberry genotypes.
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