LEAFING, FLOWERING AND FRUITING OF <em>AZADIRACHTA</em> <em>INDICA</em> (NEEM) IN INDIA

Abstract

Some basic phenological observations on neem were carried out at different locations situated in six different agro-ecological zones (ER2, ER4, ER8, ER9, ER10 and ERI5) of India. The neem tree is generally in heavy leafing during May-November. Leaf shedding in general starts from November and the trees are back in full leafing by April. There is an appreciable drop in percentage of trees flowering immediately after May. The flowering peak is April for arid locations (ER2) and the semi-arid regions (ER4 and ER8) have a broad peak spread between March and May. Among the sub-humids, ER10 has a single flowering peak in March whereas ER9 and ER15 have broad peaks spreading between April and May. Some restricted flowering during August and November is indicated at some locations both in the semi-arid and sub-humid regions. As far as fruiting is concerned, neem trees in the arid and semi-arid areas start fruiting in May and June whereas in the sub-humid regions it varies between April and July. In ER15 there is an overlapping of flowering and fruiting patterns. Mature fruit availability time in the arid region is in June whereas in the semi-arid region it is in June and July extending up to August-September in ER8. In the sub-humid region June-July is also the best time for seed collection. Secondary flowering found in some regions is followed by fruiting and a few of the fruits mature subsequently. This provides an additional seed collection time in these regions.