Sustainable yield index and soil properties in mango under different nutrient management strategies

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during 2012-15 to estimate the sustainable yield index and variations in soil properties in mango under different nutrient management modules in subtropical climatic condition of Lucknow. Inorganic (NPK and micronutrients) and organic sources (FYM, Azotobacter and PSM) were tried for improving the mango productivity. The frequency, distribution and quantity of rainfall received were observed to be varied during the mango growing seasons. The pan evaporation was varied between 5.6 to 11.4 mm day-1 during fruit developmental stages. A range of 1.29 to 1.44 g cm-3 bulk density was recorded in top soil layer (0-10 cm) and it increased down the depths (20-30 cm) to 1.36 to 1.51 g cm-3. An impact of different treatments on WHC was recorded with highest and lowest value as 23.70 and 19.97%, respectively. A range of 39.89 to 48.17% porosity across treatments was revealed. Significant effect of various treatments on soil organic carbon and available N content in soil was revealed. The highest fruit yield of 13.96 and 9.10 t ha-1 was recorded in the treatment NPK + Zn, Cu, Mn, B (50% soil + 50% foliar application) over control (6.44 and 3.97 t ha-1), respectively. The highest sustainable yield index (SYI) was in the same treatment (0.90 and 0.87) indicating the fact that for maintaining a sustainable yield level, application of micronutrients both in soil and as foliar spray @ 50% are essentially required in mango growing soils.