NPK fertigation of stone fruit crops: A review

Abstract

Stone fruit crops play a significant role in the food and nutritional security. These fruits are mostly perennial in nature and require proper irrigation and fertilization for optimum growth, yield and quality. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium play a vital role in overall development of stone fruits. However, the use of these nutrients through conventional methods does not meet the fertilizer requirement according to the growth stage of the tree and thereby, fertilization becomes inefficient. Fertigation refers to application of fertilizers through irrigation, provided to an area of soil, where most of the active roots are present and also matches the timing of nutritional demand of the tree. Thus, efficient use of fertilizers and water thereby, minimizing leaching losses as compared to other methods of application. Taking into account, the declining water resources and leaching losses of fertilizers, it is essential to adopt such efficient technology to avoid scarcity in near future. The past studies conducted on different stone fruits suggested that adoption of this technology have improved the overall status, viz. growth, yield, quality and nutrient content of stone fruits, which is also highly beneficial to fruit growers from economic point of view.