BORON REQUIREMENT OF CHILI (CAPSICUM ANNUUM L.): PROPOSED DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA

Abstract

Critical concentration in recommended plant tissue is an important tool for diagnosing nutrient deficiency. Internal requirement of five chili (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivars was estimated from yield response curves attained from a field experiment by applying 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 kg boron (B) ha−I. Boron application significantly increased dry fruit yield and maximum increase ranged from 11 to 19%. The cultivars varied in B efficiency and cv. ‘Nepali’ was most B efficient (90%) while cv. ‘NARC # 4’ was the least (84%). Internal chili B requirement, associated with 95% of maximum yield attained, was 0.90 kg B ha−1. Plant tissue critical B concentration was 20 mg B kg−1in whole shoot, 24 mg B kg−1in matured leaf, and 15 mg B kg−1in seed. Results demonstrate that proposed diagnostic criteria can successfully be used to cure the B problem in chili.