Response of Fertilizer Application on Growth of Papaya Var. Red Lady

Abstract

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is an important fruit of tropical and subtropical regions of the world, it belonging to family Caricaceae and also known as papita, pawpaw and true melon. Papaya is a heavy feeder and needs heavy doses of manures and fertilizers. Apart from the basal dose of manures applied in the pits, 200 g each of N and P2O5 and 250 g K2O are recommended for getting high yield. Application of 200 g N is optimum for fruit yield but papain yield increases with increase in N up to 300 g. Micronutrients can tremendously boost crop yield and improve quality and post-harvest life of produce. They play an important role in disease resistance, since they function as enzyme activators and also play a role in lignin biosynthesis. The decline in availability of organic manures due to greater use of inorganic fertilizer has made micronutrient supply precarious. Hence replacing micronutrients that have been removed or increasing organic matter to make native nutrients available, has not received sufficient attention. Foliar application of micronutrients has gained importance in recent years, because the nutrients are sprayed directly to leaves, and can be made available to the plants at proper time when needed. Successful commercial cultivation of improved high yielding varieties of papaya crop depends on critical nutrient management due to its continuous growth, flowering and International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 12 (2017) pp. 2375-2379 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com