Statistical Model for Yield Estimation of ‘Gala Red Lum’ Apples before Bloom in Northern India

Abstract

In order to solve the problems of damage in crops due to natural disasters like frosts and hail storm, it is common to insure crops against the damage. After damage, crop loss must be evaluated by comparing what amount of crop is left with the amount that would have been obtained under normal conditions. Potential crop must be evaluated quickly through the use of measurements obtained at the beginning of the cycle of tree's growth. The objective of the study was to develop the best fitted model for estimating yield on the population of Gala Red Lum plants before bloom. The data used for this research were primary data collected from high density apple block SKUAST-Kashmir (HDP, Plate-1). The study was undertaken at experimental field of Division of Fruit Science, SKUAST-Kashmir, Srinagar, J&K, India, during the years 2015 and 2016. The measurements of various tree/fruit characteristics in Gala Red Lum were recorded. The developed model was validated using k-fold cross validation technique and bootstrap validation.