Effect of Foliar Feeding with Nutrients and Bioregulators on Yield and Quality Attributes of Litchi cv. Bombai

• Published in: Horticulturae 2024-02, Vol.10 (2), p.188
• Main Authors: Nayak, Sushrita, Tarai, Ranjan Kumar, Swain, Subash Chandra, Samal, Sunil, Pradhan, Satyabrata, Sethy, Bijaya Kumar, Behera, Subrat Kumar, Vali, Dudekula Mastan, Ranjith, Pamirelli, Mandal, Purandar, Selvi, Senthamizh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acidity; Agricultural production; Algae; Borax; Boron; Calcium chloride; Carbohydrates; Crop yield; Crop yields; Environmental aspects; Foliar applications; Food quality; fruit cracking; Fruits; humic acid; Humic acids; Litchi; Measurement; Nutrients; Nutrition; Nutritional aspects; Physiological aspects; Plant growth; Principal components analysis; quality; Quality management; seaweed extract; Seaweeds; Soapberries; Sugar; Water sprays; Weight; yield; Zinc sulfate
• ISSN: 2311-7524; 2311-7524
• DOI: 10.3390/horticulturae10020188

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is considered one of the most important sub-tropical fruits of the world. In the western part of Odisha, India, litchi growers are facing problems of unstable and lower marketable yield and inferior quality due to a higher incidence of fruit cracking, fruit drop, low sugar content, and higher fruit acidity. Keeping in mind the positive effects of nutrients and bioregulators, the current study was conducted to elucidate their impact on fruit yield and quality in the farmers’ field of Jamankira block in Sambalpur district of Odisha, which is under the care of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, India. For this study, eight-year-old litchi trees were selected. With 12 treatments, the experiment was set up in a Randomized Block Design replicated thrice, as follows: T1: spray treatment with Borax—0.5%; T2: spray treatment with Borax—0.3%; T3: spray treatment with ZnSO4—0.75%; T4: spray treatment with ZnSO4—0.5%; T5: spray treatment with CaCl2—0.5%; T6: spray treatment with CaCl2—0.1%; T7: spray treatment with humic acid—1.5%; T8: spray treatment with humic acid—1%; T9: spray treatment with seaweed extract—0.5%; T10: spray treatment with seaweed extract—0.1%; T11: foliar spray with NAA—20 ppm; and T12: control (Water Spray). The current study compared foliar feeding treatments comprising different nutrient and bioregulators, which were applied during the first week of December, just after the completed formation of new leaves and the untreated control. The highest total number of fruits per plant was recorded in plants sprayed with 0.5% ZnSO4 (T4) followed by those treated with 1% humic acid (T8). The highest total fruit yield was recorded in plants subjected to foliar feeding with 0.3% Borax (T2) which was found to be statistically similar to plants treated with 0.1% seaweed extract (T10) and 0.5% seaweed extract (T9). Among the treatments, a better response, i.e., a higher number of marketable fruits and marketable yield, was recorded in litchi plants treated with 0.3% Borax (T2) followed by 0.5% zinc sulphate (T4), 1% humic acid (T8), and 0.1% CaCl2 (T6). The application of 1% humic acid (T8) followed by 1.5% humic acid (T9) enhanced fruit setting (%) and fruit retention rates (%) and reduced the fruit drop rate (%). The enhanced fruit size (fruit length and fruit width) and higher fruit weight was obtained in litchi plants treated with 0.3% Borax. The foliar application of 0.3% Borax (T2) also resulted in a higher