Evaluation of the Characteristics of Native Wild Himalayan Fig ( Ficus palmata Forsk.) from Pakistan as a Potential Species for Sustainable Fruit Production

Muhammad Riaz Khan, Muhammad Azam Khan, Umer Habib, Mehdi Maqbool, Rashid Mehmood Rana, Shahid Iqbal Awan and Boris Duralija
Additional contact information
Muhammad Riaz Khan: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Crop and Food Sciences, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
Muhammad Azam Khan: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Crop and Food Sciences, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
Umer Habib: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Crop and Food Sciences, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
Mehdi Maqbool: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Poonch Rawalakot, Rawalakot 12350, Pakistan
Rashid Mehmood Rana: Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Faculty of Crop and Food Sciences, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
Shahid Iqbal Awan: Department of Plant Breeding and Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Poonch Rawalakot, Rawalakot 12350, Pakistan
Boris Duralija: Department of Pomology, Division of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Wild Himalayan figs ( Ficus palmata Forsk.), native to East Asia and the Himalayan region, are closely related to the well-known cultivated fig ( Ficus carica L.), which is grown mainly in the Mediterranean region. The Pakistani state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has a rich variety of figs. However, no comprehensive study has been carried out to utilise the diversity of these wild figs for possible use in sustainable fruit production. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the variability of 35 wild fig accessions using quantitative and qualitative traits. Descriptive statistics were used to measure quantitative characteristics, while the coefficient of variance (CV %) was analysed using SAS ® version 9.1. A principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate analysis were performed using R Studio (v1.1.4). Pearson correlation coefficients between characteristics were obtained using SPSS software. The studied accessions showed high variability and the coefficient of variation (CV) ranged from 4.46–14.81%. Days to maturity varied from 71 to 86, leaf area from 38.55 to 90.06 cm 2 . The fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit weight ranged from 11.25 to 29.85 mm, 11.85 to 27.49 mm and 2.65 to 9.66 g, respectively. The photosynthetic activity and total chlorophyll content also varied from 7.94 to 10.22 μmol CO 2 m −2 s −1 and 37.11 to 46.48 μgml −1 . In most of the fig accessions studied, apical dominance was found to be ‘absent’ while fruit shape was observed to be ‘globular’. A strong correlation was observed between all the studied characteristics. In the PCA analysis, all 35 fig accessions were distributed in four quadrants and showed a great diversity. This could be a valuable gene pool for future breeding studies and provide improved quality varieties. Wild Himalayan figs from the wild are well adapted to local pedoclimatic conditions and, combined with easy propagation and production can contribute to the local economy and have a significant impact on the socio-economic and ecological balance. The results of this study show high variability in some of the studied traits of 35 accessions from different parts of Northeast Pakistan, indicating their good potential for further enhancement and utilisation in sustainable agricultural production.

Keywords: native germplasm; temperate fruit; wild fig; biodiversity; conservation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/1/468/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/1/468/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:1:p:468-:d:716371

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().