Plant species that bear fruits often utilize expansion of ovary (carpel) or accessory tissue as a vehicle for seed dispersal. Once the seed (s) mature, the tissue (s) of the fruit follow habitual progression of cell division and cell expansion, promoting growth of the fruit. As with many developmental processes in plants, plant hormones play important role in the synchronization of signals between the developing seed and its surrounding fruit tissue(s) regulating each phase of fruit development. Following pollination, fruit set is achieved through a de-repression of growth and an activation of cell division via the action of auxin and/or cytokinin and/or gibberellin .Following fruit set, growth of the fruit is facilitated through a relatively poorly studied period of cell expansion and endore duplication that is likely regulated by similar hormones as in fruit set (McAtetee et al., 2013). Pollination is an essential process for fruit set, fruit growth, fruit quality, and seed set of temperate fruits mostly apple cultivars. Being a temperate the various reasons for poor fruit set in the higher belts includes low temperature (coldness, rains) during flowering resulting in low bee activity (Verma and Jindal., 1985). The productivity of apple is obviously quite low and therefore, there is enough scope for its improvement. Low productivity (10-12 MT/ha) of apple in the state of J&K can be attributed to various factors like lack of pollinizers and pollinators, non-judicious use of pesticides and fertilizers, faulty pruning and training and climatic adversities particularly low temperature and rainfall during developmental stages of flowering, pollination, fertilization and fruit setting (Verma and Jindal, 1985).Different means can be employed for fruit set, productivity and quality improvement in temperate fruits like proper pollination ratio particularly pollenizers with flower synchronization with main cultivars, pollinators , use of hormones, nutrients or both. Under adverse climatic condition fruit set can be increased by use of plant growth regulators like auxins, cytokinins and gibberellins and some micronutrients, especially the calcium, boron (Lee et al., 2009) increases fruit set especially in apple.

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