Growth, fruit set and yield of Santa Rosa plum as affected by nitrogen and boron under rainfed conditions of Kashmir Valley

Abstract

Present experiment was carried out in a seven year old private plum orchard near SKUAST-Kashmir, Shalimar Campus, Srinagar during 2012 and 2013, to examine the response to nitrogenous fertilizer and boron on growth, fruit set and yield of plum var. Santa Rosa. Urea @ 500 g (N1), CaNO3 @ 1450 g (N2), N1 + 50 g boron (N3) and N2 + 50 g boron (N4) were applied at T1 = Full dose in spring, T2 = Full dose after harvest and T3 = 3/4 dose in spring and 1/4 dose after harvest. Observations were recorded on parameters viz. incremental tree girth, shoot extension growth, plant height, plant spread, leaf area, fruit set, fruit drop, yield, yield efficiency. All the growth parameters were high in treatment combination N1T1. Maximum fruit set (19.68 % and 20.90 %) was recorded in N3T2, yield (20.60 kg/tree and 22.88 kg/tree) was recorded in N4T2, yield efficiency (0.45 and 0.46 kg/cm2) was recorded in N4T2 and minimum fruit drop (4.25 % and 4.55 %) were recorded under the treatment combination N4T2 and N4T3, respectively in the both the years. Both sources of nitrogen and boron can be considered as best fertilizer in plum orchards for improving the growth, fruit set, fruit yield, yield efficiency.