Evaluation of fruit yield in two gooseberry cultivars grown under water stress conditions with supplemental irrigation

Abstract

Cape gooseberry falls under the underutilised fruit crop in Kenya in spite of its significant nutritional and medicinal value. The objective of this study was to compare the yield potential of two introduced varieties of Cape gooseberry – Colombia and Netherlands – grown under water stress conditions with supplemental irrigation. A better-performing variety between the two could do relatively well in drier regions. From the results, the differences in the parameters measured, i.e., flowers buds, flowers, fruits, and branches, are not statistically significant (p≤0.05), vegetative branching showed a stronger correlation with floral density for Colombia than for the Netherlands variety (r=0.771 vs. 0.687, respectively). Additionally, the average reproductive components measured, i.e., fruits and flowers, were higher in Colombia than in Netherlands, indicating that it can perform better under drought conditions (with supplemental irrigation)