Influence of different grades and times of application of micronutrient mixture on fruit set and yeild of custard apple (Annona squamosa L.) cv. Balanagar

Abstract

The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with two factors i.e. factor A- micronutrient mixture grade (G) and factor B- time of application (T). These factors consist of four and three levels respectively, twelve treatment combinations with three replications. The experiment was conducted on nine years old custard apple plants of Balanagar cultivar. The micronutrient mixtures i.e. Grade-1 sulphate by soil application, Grade-2 chelate by soil application, Grade-3 sulphate by foliar application and Grade-4 chelate by foliar application were applied monthly, bimonthly and tri monthly time variation. The results of present investigation indicated that, among the different treatment combination the treatment G4T1 (Grade-4 chelated by foliar application monthly) noted the highest fruit set (82.47 %), weight of fruit (222.61g), number of fruit per tree (68.33), yield/tree (14.75 kg), marketable yield per tree (10.31 kg), yield/ha (5.90 tonnes).