Crop growth and yield are influenced by the genetic potential of the cultivar, soil, weather, and cultivation practices, i.e., sowing date, irrigation and fertilizer amount, and biotic stresses. Temporal variation in yield and growth has been largely forecasted using climate as a predictor, which can be achieved by using either an empirical or crop simulation approach for a given location. Climate and soil data collected over agricultural land regularly aid in crop growth monitoring, as well as crop vitality assessment. Crop simulation models (CSM) that have been successful in field-scale applications are now being implemented in GIS framework to simulate and monitor crop growth with remote sensing inputs, allowing for sensitive evaluations of seasonal weather conditions, local variability, and crop management signals. This research was designed to monitor the growth of three varieties of kiwifruit, i.e., Hayward grafted, Green-flesh, and Hayward, in four different localities: Hazaro (Attock), Simli Dam (Pind Begwal), GPU (germ plasm unit) Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi and ZTBL (Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited) Farm Islamabad, each of which has different soil and weather conditions. Soil proximal sensors were used to measure soil characteristics, and data loggers were installed in each field to monitor the weather parameters to collect data that influences crops. In this study, we used a quantitative method and GIS-integrated data to assess the impact of soil and climate on kiwifruit growth. It can help policy makers and researchers to identify new agro-climatic zones in Pakistan’s semi-arid regions for kiwifruit farming based on this data. In this study, we found that kiwi is very susceptible to temperatures above 40 °C, which cause mortality in kiwifruits plants. Morphological data with respect to soil and climate results showed that green-fleshed and Hayward varieties performed slightly better than Hayward grafted, which was most susceptible to diseases and heat damage.

Climate variability affects the phenological, physiological, and morphological adaptability of Kiwifruit. Hence, five Kiwifruit varieties were evaluated under variable rainfed climatic conditions in Pothowar. Phenological data of all five varieties was observed at both study sites, including bud initiation, bud swelling, and bud burst. Goldflesh (GDF) and Green Flesh 1 (GF1) were observed to be late in bud burst and to have poor physio-morphological responses and plant survival rates. In contrast, Hayward (H), Bruno (B), and Greenflesh 2 (GF2) exhibited superior performance in terms of plant physiological and morphological traits (e.g., heat damage percentage, photosynthetic activity, shoot length, t runk diameter, d isease incidence percentage, and survival rate). Greenflesh 2 (GF2) plants at both study locations exhibited a lower percentage of heat damage (4.25 and 5.83) than Greenflesh 1 (6.2 and 9.87) and Goldflesh (6.11 and 8.83), respectively. Bruno had more photosynthetic activity (627.31 and 773.5 mol m^-2 sec^-1) than Goldflesh (330.49 and 343.71 mol m^-2 sec^-1) and Greenflesh 1 (346.96 and 354.25 mol m^-2 sec^-1, respectively). Hayward (112.56 and 183.44 cm) and Bruno (109.98 and 160.39 cm) had longer shoots compared to Greenflesh 1 (44.23 and 71.26 cm) and Goldflesh (62.49 and 111.16 cm). Bruno (1.02 and 1.6 cm) and Hayward (0.93 and 1.56 cm) had a significantly larger trunk diameter than Greenflesh 1 (0.74 and 1.3 cm) and Goldflesh (0.78 and 1.3 cm), respectively. Hayward, Bruno, and Greenflesh 2 were significantly more resistant to disease incidence (0.27, 0.15, and 0.41) and plant survival was high (80%, 78%, and 79%) in all three varieties at both locations. Bruno and Greenflesh 2 proved to be the most productive varieties under variable climate conditions; thus, their material can be used to develop future Kiwifruit ideotypes in rainfed regions.