Effect of nutrient scheduling on fruit retention, yield and quality of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Cv. Phule Bhagwa Super

Abstract

The experiment was conducted on four year old pomegranate orchard in Ambia bahar at Instructional Cum Research Orchard, Arid Zone Fruit Project, Department of Horticulture, MPKV, Rahuri, Dist. Ahmednagar during 2015-16 (Trial 1) and 2016-17 (Trial 2). The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design. Observations on fruit retention, yield and quality parameters were recorded. There were eight treatments in which RDF (625:250:250 NPK g/plant) was split in different schedules. Treatment T2 i.e. scheduling of nutrient viz., 50% N, 40% P2O5 and 25% K2O as a basal application, 30% N, 25 % P2O5 and 15 % K2O at fruit set, 20% N, 25 % P2O5 and 30 % K2O at fruit development stage, 10 % P2O5 and 30 % K2O before harvest recorded significantly maximum fruit retention (88.86%), yield (26.78 kg/plant), average weight of fruit (312.62g), aril percentage (61.34 %) and TSS (15.68 oBrix).