Studies on water and nutrient management in mango Mangifera indica Lcultivar Dashehari under Jammu sub tropics

Abstract

The present investigation entitled Studies on water and nutrient management in mango (Mangifera indica L.) cv. Dashehari under Jammu subtropics was carried out at Farmer s Field in Akhnoor on twelve years old mango orchard of cv. Dashehari, during the years 2017 and 2018 to study the effect of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI), partial root zone drying (PRD) and fertigation on growth, yield, quality and shelf life of mango. The plants which were treated with PRD 75% ETc + F (T7) recorded advanced date of appearance of panicle, date of full bloom, date of maximum fruit set, date of harvest and maximum duration of flowering as compared to other treatments, in both the years. The maximum panicle length (26.57 and 25.18 cm) and breadth of panicle (13.53 and 12.27 cm) was found in treatment PRD 75% ETc + F (T7) while minimum length (18.52 and 17.37 cm) and breadth (10.88 and 9.52 cm) of panicle was observed in treatment (T10) no irrigation in both years 2017 and 2018, respectively. Maximum tree height (5.97 m and 6.18 m), tree spread from east to west (4.91 m and 5.22 m), and from north to south (4.64 m and 4.93 m), scion stock ratio (0.941and 0.954), stock girth (63.53 cm and 65.72 cm), scion girth (59.81cm and 62.70 cm) were recorded in T1 100% ETc. The maximum fruit weight (206.45 and 208.29 gram), fruit length (10.37 and 10.40 cm), fruit breadth (6.31 and 6.33 cm), fruit volume (213.87 and 216.56 cm3) and specific gravity (1.03 and 1.04 g/cc) were recorded in T7 (PRD 75% ETc + F) during both the years 2017 and 2018, respectively. Mango trees treated with PRD 50% ETc and fertigation recorded maximum TSS (20.42 and 20.50 0Brix), titrable acidity (0.22 and 0.22 %), total sugars (15.25 and 15.30 %), reducing sugars (3.71 and 3.73 %), non reducing sugars (10.96 and 10.99 %) and sugar acid ratio (92.81 and 93.18) in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The maximum leaf potassium (0.28 and 0.30%), calcium (1.79 and 1.81%), and boron (19.84 and 20.16 ppm) content were observed in treatment T7 i.e PRD 75% ETc c