Study of Pollination Method, Disbudding and Dilution of Pollen on Artificial Pollination for Purpose of Reducing Pollen Consumption in ‘Rainbow Red’ Kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis)

We studied methods for pollination, disbudding, and the dilution of pollen for artificial pollination to reduce pollen consumption in ‘Rainbow Red’ kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis). Pollination using a rechargeable pollen dust sprayer could reduce the volume of dry pollen mixture and work time. In disbudding, if the number of flowers was two or three per bearing shoot, the quantity of dry pollen mixture sprayed could be reduced without decreasing the yield. On spraying a diluted dry pollen mixture, the seed number was reduced and the incidence of malformed fruit increased with the dilution below 5%. Therefore, we concluded that the appropriate dry pollen mixture dilution was above 6.7%. The volume of pollen consumption for artificial pollination should be reduced using rechargeable pollen dust sprayers, two or three pollinating flowers per bearing shoot, and the spraying of a dry pollen mixture dilution above 6.7%. Pollen consumption with artificial pollination could be reduced using a combination of these methods.