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Pak. J. Bot., 44(6): 1913-1918, 2012.

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EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON APPLE (MALUS DOMESTICA var. AMBRI) PRODUCTION: A CASE STUDY IN KOTLI SATIAN, RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN

AISHA ASGHAR¹, SYEDA MARIA ALI^1* AND AZRA YASMIN²

Abstract: Study was undertaken to investigate the long term and short term effect of climate change on apple production in Kotli Sattian area of Rawalpindi District, using Malus domestica var. Ambri L. as an indicator. Climate data for previous 30 years (i.e. 1979-2009) was correlated with net apple production per year. The study also explored other supporting ecological factors like metal content analysis and current soil status (pH, moisture content, organic matter, soil texture) of the orchard’s soil. This investigation revealed that all physico-chemical parameters were supporting production but it declined mainly due to drastic climate change aspects including unusual seasonal variations, elongated summer periods and unusual rainfall periods. In context of questionnaires results, an overwhelming number of farmers (91%) were of the opinion that climate change was the main factor behind decline apple production. The case study served as an effort to bring awareness in the local farmers about the devastating effects of climate changes to help them and improve apple production in Pakistan through enhanced agricultural practices.

¹Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Basic and Applied Sciences, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan

²Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, The Mall, Rawalpindi.

Corresponding author’s e-mail: maria.ali01@yahoo.com