Fruit Science Culture And Technology: V

The various aspects of fruit cultivation mainly covered are nutritive and cultural significance; origin, history, and distribution ; taxonomical and botanical description ; climatic and soil adaptability; propagation technology and rootstocks; plant and fruit physiology; recommended and popular cultivars; soil cultural practices technology - water need, nutritional need, weed control, inter culture; plant cultural practices technology- training and pruning, fruit thinning ,fruit quality improvement , use of plant growth regulators; special problems; harvesting and production of fruits; post-harvest fruit technology; insect-pests and diseases management ; marketing and export potential. Section-1 covers 2 leading sub- tropical fruits of the country.

Similarly, section- 2 covers 4 and section-3 covers 6 sub- tropical fruits in order of their importance. Scientists working in different Universities/ Institutions and Research Stations have contributed chapter on fruit crops in their respective areas of specialization.

The book will be highly beneficial to the graduate and post-graduate students in Fruit Science, fruit growers, scientists and extension workers.

Dr. J.S.Bal, born on 8 October 1951,belongs to Ajnala in district Amritsar did B.Sc (Agri.) in 1973 from Khalsa College, Amritsar and M.Sc (Hort.) in 1975 from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. He joined PAU, Ludhiana as Res.Assoc. (Hort.) in September 1977 and Asstt. Prof. Horticulture in April 1980. He completed Ph.D (Hort.) in 1991 from GNDU, Amritsar. Dr. Bal elevated to the position of Professor of Horticulture in 2001 and served as Head, Department of Horticulture, PAU in 2009. Dr. Bal has written 5 books in horticulture viz. Fruit Growing, Raising Fruit Nursery, Mulching in Ber Orchards, Ber Varieties and Post-harvest Handling of Fruits and Vegetables which are very popular among students, growers, nurserymen, scientists and extension workers. He has also compiled 4 undergraduate and 3 post-graduate Practical Manuals in horticulture for students and contributed 6 Book Chapters. He has taught 528 credit hours to UG/PG students at Punjab Agricultural University which is a record itself in teaching career. Dr. Bal has guided 5 UG Advisory Groups, 18 M.Sc / Ph.D students as Major Advisor and 78 M.Sc / Ph.D students as Minor Advisor. He has evaluated and conducted viva-voce of 24 M.Sc and 23 Ph.D students of different universities as external expert. He has selected 10 Asstt. Prof., 9 Assoc. Prof., 24 Prof. in various universities and 25 HDO in other states as an expert member. He acted as Chairman Academic Affairs Committee (Teaching) in the Department of Horticulture from 2004 to 2009. Dr. Bal was team leader of ber crop at PAU for 19 years. He has published 192 Research Papers in National and International Journals and compiled & edited 4 Research Reports. His seventeen recommendations are included in Package of Practices for the benefits of fruit growers. He has earned distinction for evaluating a draft report on genetic resources of ber by International Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Rome (Italy). He has attended 29 National and International Seminar/ Symposia/Conference in horticulture. Dr. Bal has attended 2nd International Jujube Symposium at Xinzheng, Henan (China) from 3-7 Sept. 2011 and presented Keynote Report on ber in Inaugural Session and Chaired Session on "Post-harvest Physiology, Nutrition and Processing". He has attended 3rd International Jujube Symposium at Brisbane(Australia) from 17-22 August 2014 and delivered Keynote Address and Chaired Oral Session. Acted as a member, International Scientific Committee, Jujube 2016 Workshop, Bucharest, Romania, October 9-12,2016. Recently nominated member, International Scientific Committee, XXX. International Horticultural Congress. S-8 Jujube (4th International Symposium) to be held on 12-16 August 2018, Istanbol- Turkey. He was instrumental in rejuvenation of 440 years old Historic ber plants at Golden Temple, Amritsar.