Efficacy of foliar application of nutrients on yield and quality of guava y

Abstract

Aim: To assess the efficacy of foliar application of nutrients, i.e., calcium as calcium chloride and boron as borax on yield and quality of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. Lalit fruits. Methodology: Nineteen –year- old uniform guava plants planted at 6x6 m apart were selected for investigation. Foliar application of calcium chloride e (CaCl2) and borax (Na2 [B4O5 (OH)4]·8H2O) was done as split dose application during first week of August and second week of September in the year 2017 and 2018. Nine treatments in toto viz., T0 (Control), 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%), T8 (Calcium chloride 0.2% + Borax 0.2%) were applied as foliar feeding. Effect of treatments was recorded on fruit length, fruit width, fruit volume, fruit yield (kg tree-1), fruit specific gravity, total soluble solids, acidity, ascorbic acid, total sugar, reducing sugar and non-reducing sugar content of fruit. Results: Foliar application of calcium chloride @ 0.2% along with borax @ 0.1% was the best treatment combination among the all treatments for improving fruit yield (i.e., from 44.333 kg tree-1 to 61.170 kg tree-1) and quality of guava fruits (viz., TSS 7.613 - 11.670 0Brix, ascorbic acid 155.457 - 176.343 mg 100g-1 pulp and total sugars 5.383 - 7.547%) in the environmental conditions akin to environmental conditions of Horticultural Research Farm of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow (India). Interpretation: Judicious application of calcium and boron as foliar spray might ameliorate adverse effects of soil and environmental factors and improve production and quality of guava fruits.