Abstract
The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of pruning severity on growth, yield and fruit quality of Prunus domestica under temperate agro-climatic conditions of District Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The experiment was arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four pruning treatments: T₀ (control), T₁ (25% shoot removal), T₂ (50% shoot removal) and T₃ (75% shoot removal), each replicated three times. Data were collected on vegetative growth, yield components and fruit quality attributes. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) among treatments for most studied parameters. Results indicated that moderate pruning (T₂) produced maximum plant height increment (45.7 cm), canopy spread (3.42 m) and leaf area (38.6 cm²). Similarly, T₂ recorded the highest yield performance with 22.4 kg fruit per tree and 14.0 t ha⁻¹ yield. Fruit quality attributes were also significantly improved under T₂, showing highest total soluble solids (15.8 °Brix), vitamin C content (9.8 mg 100 g⁻¹) and favorable TSS/acid ratio (19.3). Severe pruning enhanced vegetative growth but reduced fruit yield, while unpruned trees showed lower productivity due to canopy congestion and reduced light penetration. The study concludes that moderate pruning (50% shoot removal) is the most suitable management practice for improving yield and fruit quality of plum orchards under temperate conditions of District Bajaur. Further multi-year studies are recommended to validate these findings across different cultivars and environmental conditions.