Modified BBCH scale
BBCH (Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt und Chemische Industrie) scale is a system for uniform coding of growth stages which has been widely used for describing phenological stages of plants (Meier, 2001). The basic BBCH scale is represented by two digits signifying principal and secondary stages. The extended BBCH scale is represented by 3 digits considering meso stages also. The Principal stages describe key phenological phases associated with growth and development of plants. Secondary stage defines subsequent division principal growth stages, while, meso stages are incorporated between the primary and secondary stages representing spatial variation of principal growth stages.
Generally the phenological observations are recorded at weekly intervals. Further, during fruit development and maturity, data needs to be collected twice a week. Hence, the data on phenological observations based on BBCH scale are voluminous and handling such a data needs a tool for proper interpretations and drawing valid conclusions.
The BBCH scale has been standardized for certain fruit crops like mango, stone fruits, pome fruits, etc. However, for cashew no such scale is available. An attempt has been made for the first time at ICAR-Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur, to identify phenological stages as per extended BBCH scale for cashew by taking the references from related/ other fruit crops. The data generated while recording phenological observations will be enormous and makes it tough to handle to draw valid conclusions. Keeping this in mind, for efficient management of cashew phenology data, a tool is developed.