Effect of foliar application of calcium nitrate and urea on yield and quality of aonla

Abstract

Aonla (Emblica officinalis G.) is an indigenous fruit to Indian sub-continent and suited well in dry subtropical climate. It is grown commercially because of high therapeutic and nutritional value as well as suitable for marginal lands (Singh et al., 6). In the recent years, considering its prospects under wasteland conditions particularly in salt-affected soils, the area under aonla cultivation is increasing rapidly. The higher calcium level in fruit pulp results lower cumulative physiological loss in weight. Calcium nitrate increases fruit firmness up to twenty percent (Casado et al., 1), which maximizes the risk of fruit quality loss due to different physical injury. Calcium has various effects on aonla fruit with respect to its TSS, total sugars, phenols, acidity, ascorbic acid, reducing sugar etc. (Yadav and Singh, 8). Nitrogen when applied as foliar spray has been found effective on physico-chemical properties of aonla (Singh et al., 6). Therefore the present study was conducted with objective to find out the optimum concentration of urea and calcium nitrate as foliar application on yield and quality of aonla fruits.