Effect of regulated irrigation and calcium sprays on fruit yield and quality of Dehradun litchi

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of calcium sprays on yield and quality of litchi cv. Dehradun under regulated irrigation. Trees were subjected to regulated irrigations at 3, 6, 9 and 12 days intervals and were sprayed with CaCl2 @ 1, 1.5 and 2% concentration and compared with irrigation at 3 days interval without any CaCl2 spray. Fruit set (38.67%), fruit volume (18.71 cm3), fruit firmness (3.29 kg/ cm2) and fruit yield (13.27 qts/acre) were found to be maximum in trees irrigated at 6 days intervals and sprayed with 2% CaCl2 ( T4) with highest benefit: cost ratio (1.55).