66 Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 87 (12): 1650–6, December 2017/Article Effect of planting dates on plant growth, yield and quality in different strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) varieties in subtropics of eastern India KANCHAN BHAMINI 1 , RUBY RANI 2 , V B PATEL 3 , R N JHA 4 and A K VIJAY 5 Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar 813 210 Received: 09 April 2016; Accepted: 26 July 2017 ABSTRACT Study was undertaken to standardize the planting time of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) in agro-climate of Bihar, during 2012-2013. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three varieties namely Sweet Charlie, Festival and Winter Dawn as sub plot with four planting dates, viz. 15 October, 1 November, 15 November and 1 December as main plot with three replications at experimental plot of BAC, Sabour, Bihar. 15 October planting exhibited maximum growth and took longest duration to initiate fowering and fruit set with largest fruit size which was at par with 1 November planting. 1 November planting had maximum number of fruits and yield/plant. Least plant growth and fruit yield was recorded in 1 December planting. Among the cultivars studied, variety Winter Dawn exhibited maximum plant growth however maximum yield of 355.04 g/plant was recorded in var. Festival. Variety Sweet Charlie having minimum fruit size and weight produced highest number of fruits, i.e. 22.48 fruits/plant and excelled in TSS, total sugars and ascorbic acid content. Variety Winter Dawn was found suitable for 15 October planting whereas var. Festival and Sweet Charlie performed better in 1 November planting. Key words: Planting date, Quality, Strawberry,Variety, Yield 1 Ph D Scholar (e mail: kb33637@gmail.com), 2 Assistant Professor (e mail: rruby92@yahoo.co.in), 3 University Professor (e mail: patelvb07@gmail.com), 4 Department of Horticulture (Fruit and Fruit Technology) (email:rudra_bac@rediffmail. com), 5 Department of Statistics and Computer Applications (e mail:animesh.kumarvijay2@yahoo.com) The strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is an Octaploid (x=7, 2n=56) species belonging to the family Rosaceae and is one of the most attractive, delicious, refreshing soft fruit with loads of nutritive value and distinct aroma. It is considered as temperate perennial herb but it act as annual plant in sub tropics. In India, it is mainly grown in hills of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand (Rana and Chandel 2003) but in recent time it is successfullycultivated in sub tropics and plains of India using plasticulture and day neutral varieties. The temperature and photoperiods have the considerable effects on growth and yield of the strawberry probably through the control of the production of plant hormones. High growth rates of strawberries are maintained at day temperatures of 22-23°C. An average growing temperature of 15°C has been reported for most of the strawberry cultivars and species, though it grows well at a temperature ranging between 20°C and 26°C. Delayed planting limits the fruit availability for a very short period of one and a half month (Singh et al. 2007). For successful cultivation, planting time plays an important role. Strawberry can be planted at different times of the year depending on variety, location and climate (Galleta and Bringhurst 1990, Sharma and Sharma 2004). Both planting time and varieties have been recognized to infuence fruit production as well as quality and availability of strawberry. Being a high remunerative and short duration crop it is catching up among farmers but very little information is available regarding suitable planting time of strawberry in gangetic plains of India. Therefore, an investigation was conducted to standardize the planting time of different varieties of strawberry in agro-climatic condition of Bihar. MATERIALS AND METHODS The feld experiment was conducted at research plot of Horticulture Garden of Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur during 2012-13. The experimental site falls in sub-humid, sub-tropical gangetic plain of Eastern India. This region experiences semi-arid sub-tropical climate having winter season from November to February with December and January being the coldest months. The average minimum and maximum temperatures during the cropping period were 11.02°C and 26.38°C, respectively. The maximum average temperature of 37.74°C was noted in the 2 nd week of April, 2013 and the lowest minimum average temperature of 3.01°C was in the 2 nd week of January, 2013. The soil on the experimental plot was slightly https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v87i12.76497