Influence of Foliar Application of Seaweed Extract and Humic Acid on Growth, Yield and Quality of Strawberry (Fragaria × ananasa Duch) cv. Winter Dawn

Abstract

The present investigation entitled “Influence of foliar spraying of Seaweed extract and Humic acid on growth, yield and quality of Strawberry (Fragaria × ananasa duch) cv. Winter dawn” was carried out in the Department of Horticulture, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology & Sciences Prayagraj. This experiment was conducted from November 2022 to March 2023. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the best treatment combination of Seaweed Extract and Humic acid concentration for producing the best quality strawberry. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Design having 9 treatments and replicated 3 times. The T9 (SWE @ 8000ppm + Humic acid @ 3.0 g/L) recorded highest values in terms of growth parameters i.e. number of leaves (7.83, 15.58, 23.66, 30.08), plant height (7.88, 12.21, 15.25, 18.06), plant spread (13.38 E-W, 13.41 N-S; 15.4 E-W, 15.43 N-S; 21.55 E-W, 21.01 N-S; 24.44 E-W, 24.45 N-S) at different stages of growth i.e 30, 60, 90, and 120 days after planting as compared to T1 (control) and all other treatments. Plant treatment T9 also recorded earliest flowering (48.42 days) and earliest fruiting (70.42). Fruit weight (30.84g), fruit length (5.84cm) and diameter (4.05cm) were found superior followed by T8 (SWE @ 7000ppm + Humic acid @ 3.0 g/L). Higher yield (343.52g) and higher number fruits per pant (20.66) were observed in T9 and the lower yield and less number of fruits per plant in T1 (control). In Fruit quality characters, higher TSS (11.13ᴼB), lower acidity (0.58%) and high amount of ascorbic acid (60.16 mg/100 g) was observed in T9 followed by T8. Higher concentrations of seaweed extract and humic acid have been found to have a more significant positive impact on the yield quality of strawberries, demonstrating their superiority in enhancing crop productivity.