Effect of water stress at fruit maturity stage on production and skin separation phenomenon of date palm cv. Medjool

Abstract EN

Water scarcity and skin separation of the fruits are two major problems in most date palm growing regions in the world.

This study aims to evaluate the effect of water stress on date palm productivity and the phenomenon of skin separation in date fruits during the years of 2018 and 2019.

The experiment consists of six treatments (S1: 0% water stress as a control, S2: 10% water stress, S3: 20% water stress, S4: 30% water stress, S5: 40% water stress, S6: 50% water stress).The highest significant fruit yield (kg/tree) was recorded in the treatments S1, S2 and S3 during the year of 2018 and S1 and S2 during the year of 2019.

The lowest significant Balah fruit percentage was recorded in the treatments S3, S4, S5 and S6 during the year of 2018 and S2, S3, S4, S5 and S6 during the year of 2019.

No significant differences between the treatments were recorded in fruit weight (g), percentage of fruit with and without stalk and skin separation of the fruits, except for the year of 2018 which recorded a significantly lower percentage of skin separation with the treatments S2, S3, S4, S5 and S6.

It can be concluded from this study that water stress at the fruit ripening stage had a limited effect on the yield of the tree (kg/tree), stimulated the ripening of the fruits, and had a minor effect on the skin separation of the date fruits.