Efficacy of plant geometry on the productivity of Indian gooseberry Emblica officinalis Gaertn in the semiarid tropics of Western India 55

Studies were conducted on the New Orchard of Indian gooseberry aonlal Cv. NA-7 at Central Horticultural Experiment Station (CIAH-ICAR), Vejalpur, Panchmahals, Gujarat, India during the years 2004 and 2005, with the objective to maximize its productivity under natural rainfall conditions, in the semi-arid tropics of western India. Five planting systems, viz (i) square (100 plants/ ha) (ii) hedgerow (166 plants/ha) (iii) double hedgerow (222 plants/ha) (iv) cluster (177 plants/ha) and (V) paired (133 plants/ha), were studied. Plant height was significantly highest in the double hedgerow system with the highest number of plants per unit area in 2005. However, maximum values of tree spread and, rootstock and scion girth were recorded in the square system of planting. Maximum yield per ha (687.31 and 1798.20 kg) was recorded in the double hedgerow system, which was narrowly followed by the cluster (580.22 and 1470.87 kg) and the hedgerow (559.64 and 1361.21 kg) planting systems. Among the various planting systems, an increase in yield (99.80 %) and additional economic returns (8982.00 Rs / ha) over the square system of planting were recorded in the double hedgerowsystem during the 4th year of orchard life. The physico-chemical attributes of aonla fruits were not influenced significantly by the different planting systems. According to the initial trends, the double hedgerow planting system can be adopted by aonla growers for better productivity per unit area even in early stages of bearing.