Effect of plant growth regulators and micronutrients on growth, yield and fruit quality of kinnow mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco.)

Influence of PGRs on Kinnow Yield and Quality

Abstract

The investigation was carried out during 2023-24 and 24-25 at the Fruit orchard, Department of Fruit Science, Banda University of Agriculture and Technology, Banda to find out the effect of spray of plant growth regulators and micronutrients on growth, yield and fruit quality of Kinnow mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco.). The experimental design was set up in RBD having ten treatments and three replications. Among all the treatments, treatment T9 - [2,4-D (15ppm) + ZnSO4 (0.4%) + FeSO4 (0.4%)] recorded maximum increment in plant height (61.70 cm), increase in trunk girth (2.91 cm), increase in shoot diameter (1.36 cm), LAI (9.78), fruit set (69.54 %), fruit retention (75.28%), fruit yield (51.32 kg/plant), average fruit weight (191.45 g), fruit width (7.99 cm), TSS (13.89 oB), reducing sugars (5.59 %), non-reducing sugars (5.10 %), total sugars (10.95 %), ascorbic acid content (48.40 mg/100g), juice content (49.73%), and minimum fruit drop (24.51%), rind thickness (3.06 mm), rind weight (50.52 g/fruit) and titratable acidity (0.56%). However, the earliest time of bud break (2-10 February), time of fruit set (3-14 March) and maximum fruit length (6.53 cm) were observed with the treatment T10 - [GA3 (15ppm) + ZnSO4 (0.4%) + FeSO4 (0.4%)]. Based on the findings, the combined application of 2,4-D (15 ppm) + ZnSO4 (0.4%) + FeSO4 (0.4%) can be recommended for improving overall productivity and fruit quality of kinnow mandarin under similar agro-climatic conditions.