Role of preharvest spray of nutrients on the shelf life improvement of apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) in Uttarakhand

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to study the responses of preharvest spray of nutrients on shelf life improvement of apple cv Royal Delicious in the Research Block of Department of Horticulture Uttarakhand University of Horticulture and Forestry, Ranichauri, Tehri Garhwal,. The experiment was laid out in RBD with three replications and 11 treatments namely; T1 (foliar application of borax @ 0.5%), T2 (foliar application of borax @ 1%), T3 (foliar application of CaCl2 @ 0.4%), T4 (foliar application of CaCl2 @ 0.6%), T5 (foliar application of K2SO4 @ 1%), T6 (foliar application of K2SO4 @ 1.5%), T7 (foliar application of 20:20:20 NPK mixture @1%), T8 (foliar application of 20:20:20 NPK mixture @ 1.5%), T9 (foliar application of micronutrient @ 0.5%), T10 (foliar application of micronutrients @ 1%) and T11 (control). After harvesting of fruits from different treatments they were stored upto 90 days and physico-chemical analysis was done at an interval of 30 days viz., first day, 30 days, 60 days and 90 days of storage. The investigation clearly revealed that minimum physiological loss in weight, minimum rotting percentage and maximum firmness was found with foliar application of CaCl2 @ 0.6% (T4) followed by foliar application of 20:20: NPK mixture @ 1.5% (T8) after 90 days of storage.