Exploring Ecological Safety and a Potential Approach for Regulating the Preharvest ‘Kinnow’ Fruit Drop Under Lower Himalayas

The cultivation of ‘Kinnow’ fruit in Lower Shivalik is affected by pre-arvest fruit drop due to imbalanced cultural practices, diseases, insect pest damage as well as excessive use of pesticides, fungicides, and growth regulators that harm the environment. We address preharvest fruit drop in ‘Kinnow’ orchards by exploring sustainable methods such as manual thinning, growth regulators, and fungicide-treated polyethene bagging. One of the effective treatments tested involved using a combination of the growth regulator 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) at a concentration of 20 gL⁻¹, along with perforated polyethylene bagging treated with active streptomycin sulphate and a fungicide containing azoxystrobin 18.2% + difenoconazole 11.4%. This treatment significantly reduced preharvest fruit drop and improved fruit characteristics such as size, weight, return of bloom, total soluble solids (TSS), acidity, reducing sugars, and total sugars. Moreover, the treatment showed encouraging results in reducing insect and disease-related fruit drop, indicating its effectiveness in controlling insect pests and diseases. Based on the study’s findings, this combined method of using growth regulators and fungicide-treated bagging can be promoted as a more environmentally friendly approach to controlling fruit drop and producing high-quality ‘Kinnow’ fruits with minimal fungicide or pesticide residue in the Lower Shivaliks of Punjab.