Influence of foliar application of nutrients on total yield per annum and leaf nutrient status of Guava (Psidium guajava) cv. L-49

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out in the Experimental Orchard of Department of Horticulture, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar during 2016-17, to study the effect of foliar sprays of ZnSO4 (0.50, 0.75 and 1.00%), FeSO4 (0.2, 0.4 and 0.6%), K2SO4 (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%) and Urea (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0%) along with control (water spray) before flowering and after fruit set, during rainy and winter seasons, on total yield and leaf nutrient status of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. L-49. The findings of the experiment revealed that the foliar application of various nutrients significantly influenced the total yield and leaf nutrient status of the plants over control. Total yield per tree per annum was recorded to be maximum (62.07 kg/tree) under ZnSO4 @1.00 per cent, which was significantly higher than all other treatments except ZnSO4 @0.75 per cent (61.39 kg/tree), while the minimum (50.46 kg/tree) was recorded under control. Maximum N content (1.78%) was obtained with the spray of Urea @2.0 per cent that was closely followed by Urea @1.5 per cent (1.76%), while the minimum (1.57%) was obtained under K2SO4 @1.0 per cent. Maximum P (0.23%) and K content (1.79%) were obtained with K2SO4 @1.5 per cent, which was closely followed K2SO4 @1.0 per cent by (0.22% P and 1.77% K) whereas, minimum P content (0.15%) was recorded under Urea @1.5 and 2.0 per cent and minimum K content (1.63%) was recorded under Urea @1.0 per cent and FeSO4 @0.2 per cent. Maximum Zn content (48.02 ppm) was obtained with the spray of ZnSO4 @1.00 per cent, which was closely followed by ZnSO4 @0.75 per cent (46.87 ppm) and the minimum (31.12 ppm) was obtained under control. Maximum Fe content (179.1 ppm) was obtained with the spray of FeSO4 @0.6 per cent that was closely followed by FeSO4 @0.4 per cent (177.3 ppm), while the minimum was obtained under Urea @2.0 per cent (153.1 ppm) followed by Urea @1.5 per cent (154.9 ppm).