Influence of micronutrients on growth dynamics, fruit yield and quality of Arka Neelamani grape

Abstract

An investigation was carried out at Bankura, West Bengal on 4-year-old vines of Arka Neelamani planted at 3 m × 2 m on Y-trellis with the objective to study the effect of micronutrients on growth dynamics, yield and fruit quality. There were 11 treatments viz., ZnSO4 at 0.1 & 0.2%; borax at 0.2 & 0.3%; FeSO4 at 0.1 & 0.15%; CuSO4 at 0.1 & 0.15%; MnSO4 at 0.1 & 0.15% and control (water spray). The experiment was conducted following randomized block design having three replications with three vines in each replication. Results of three consecutive years of investigation revealed that micronutrients had significant role in respect of growth dynamics, fruit yield, quality improvement and maintaining the vine vigour. Among the micronutrients, borax and zinc at 0.2% concentration of each played dominant role on various aspect of growth morphogenesis, yield and fruit quality. The treatments not only gave higher fruit production in respect of yield (7.2-8.5 kg), bunch weight (233-289 g) and 10-berry weight (29.1-29.2 g) but also improved the fruit quality in respect of higher TSS/ acid ratio (35.4-38.7). The treatments helped for better growth morphogenesis, which resulted in more fruiting spurs (84.1-91.4%) for the current year crop and renewal spurs (85.7-86.2%) for the next year crop. Besides, the treatments maintained the better plant vigour by producing less number of dead shoots.