geospatial distribution of boron and its effect on growth yield and quality of banana cv nendran under gardenland condition of cumbum valley of theni district tamil nadu

Abstract

Boron deficiency has been realized as the second most important micronutrient newlineconstraint in crops after that of zinc on global scale. In recent times, the yield potential newlineof many crops could not be realized owing to the widespread micronutrient deficiencies newlinenoticed in different parts of Tamil Nadu. Realizing the gravity of the emerging newlineproblems of micronutrient deficiencies and the immediate need to manage these newlineefficiently, the present investigation was carried out with the main objectives of newlinedelineating the boron deficient areas, adsorption and desorption behavior of B and newlineassessing the response of banana to applied B for arriving at the optimum B level in the newlinebanana growing blocks of Theni district, Tamil Nadu. newlineA basic soil survey was conducted in four major banana growing blocks newline(Cinnamanur, Cumbum, Uthamapalayam and Periyakulam) of Theni district to assess newlinethe available B status. Totally 720 geo - referenced soil samples (360 each of surface newline(0 - 15 cm) and subsurface soil samples (15 - 30 cm)) covering the entire four blocks of newlinebanana growing tracts of Theni district were collected by adopting the standard newlineprocedures of soil sample collection. Surface soil samples collected from the newlineexperimental sites were used to study the adsorption and desorption behaviour of boron newlineand the data were fitted in Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption equations. In order to newlineassess the response of banana to the applied B for arriving at the optimum dose, newlinefour locations which were low in boron status were selected from the predominantly newlinebanana growing soils of Theni district viz., Typic Rhodustalf (red soil) and newlineTypic Haplustert (black soil). Two field experiments i.e., main and confirmatory trial newlinein each soil totaling four trials were conducted with 15 treatments combination newlineinvolving soil and foliar application of boron replicated thrice in a randomized block newlinedesign using banana cv. Nendran as the test crop. The various growth, yield attributes, newlineyield and quality parameters were recorded. The plant samples were analyzed for newline