Impact of Foliar Micronutrient Application on Fruit Set and Fruit Retention in Guava (Psidium guajava L.) Cv. Allahabad Safeda
Sunit Bhadarge *
Department of Horticulture, Naini Agricultural Institute, SHUATS, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Devi Singh
Department of Horticulture, Naini Agricultural Institute, SHUATS, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Pratima Gupta
Department of Horticulture, KVK Nagina, Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Aishita Sarkar
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, India.
Sourin Das
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, India.
Shobha Malviya
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Rabindranath Tagore University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Jatin
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India.
K. Dhinesh Babu
ICAR-NRC on Pomegranate, Solapur, Maharashtra, India.
Mohit Kashyap
Department of Soil Science, Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India.
Ishrat Gull
Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura, SKUAST-Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
Tanzeela Habib
Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura, SKUAST-Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
Neelima Rawat
Department of Agriculture, Shivalik College of Engineering, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Foliar micronutrient application may improve reproductive and yield-related performance in high-density guava orchards. This investigation evaluated graded foliar concentrations of zinc and boron in guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. Allahabad Safeda during 2021–22 at the Horticultural Research Farm, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The experiment was arranged in a randomised block design with eleven treatments and three replications under a meadow-orchard system. Treatments comprised a water-sprayed control and zinc or boron at 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8% and 1.0%. Foliar sprays were applied before flowering, after flowering and after fruit set. The treatments significantly affected flowering, fruit number, fruit weight and yield. Treatment T10 (1.0% boron) recorded 31.33 days from flowering to fruit set, 178.58 flowers per plant, 162.65 fruits per plant, an average fruit weight of 115.47 g, a fruit yield of 18.67 kg per tree and a total fruit yield of 93.46 t/ha. Treatments T5 (1.0% zinc) and T9 (0.8% boron) showed closely comparable performance for several recorded traits. The results indicate that foliar application of 1.0% boron was the most effective treatment among those tested for improving reproductive and yield-related traits under the study conditions. However, interpretation should remain limited to the single season and location evaluated and to the stated agro-climatic conditions of Prayagraj.
Keywords: Guava, allahabad safeda, meadow orchard, zinc, boron, foliar spray, micronutrients, fruit yield