Foliar Feeding of Micro-Nutrient Influencing Physical Attributes of Winter Season Guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. L-49
Jitendra Kumar Shukla *
School of Agriculture Science, Sandip University, Neelam Vidya Vihar, Sijoul, Mailam, Madhubani, Bihar, India.
Sanjay Kumar
School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Mohit Kashyap
Department of Soil Science, Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Palampur, India.
Kamlesh Choudhary
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Gwalior, India.
Sanjay Baloda
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Gwalior, India.
Aakash Kumar Saini
Division of Soil Science, ICAR- Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, India.
Ankit Kumar
Division of Soil Science, ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.
Arkit Saha
Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Enhancing fruiting and physical attributes of guava is crucial for growers as these traits directly contribute to total yield production. Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to study the effect of foliar application of micronutrients on the physical and yield attributes of winter season guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. L-49. The experiment comprised nine treatments, namely: T₀ -Control (water spray), T1 - Calcium chloride 0.1%, T2 - Calcium chloride 0.2%, T3 - Borax 0.1%, T4 -Borax 0.2%, T5 - Calcium chloride 0.1% + Borax 0.1%, T6 - Calcium chloride 0.1% + Borax 0.2%, T7- Calcium chloride 0.2% + Borax 0.1%, and T8 - Calcium chloride 0.2% + Borax 0.2%, with three replications laid out in a randomized block design (RBD). The results revealed that the treatment Calcium chloride 0.2% + Borax 0.1% (T7) recorded the highest fruit set (67.54%), fruit retention (57.84%), fruit length (8.89 cm), fruit width (8.85 cm), fruit weight (136.67 g), fruit volume (121.63 cc), specific gravity (1.18), yield per tree (62.17 kg), and yield per hectare (168.61 q/ha), compared to the control. The study concludes that foliar application of calcium chloride (0.2%) combined with borax (0.1%) is an effective approach to improve fruit size, quality, and overall productivity of winter season guava.
Keywords: Borax, calcium chloride, foliar application, micronutrients, Psidium guajava