Effect of chemical substances on preventing sunburn injury of mandarin

Abstract

Mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) is a promising fruit crop gaining popularity for its human nutrition and economic importance in the world. The qualitative losses during pre- harvest stage hinder the quality production. Recently sunburn is major problem caused due to ‘October heat’, high temperature and direct solar radiation, which leads to significant economic losses in mandarin yield. So, a field experiment was conducted during 2017 and 2018 seasons at AICRP on Fruits (Citrus) Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola. An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of foliar spray of chemical substances 3% and 5% of Kaolin and MgCO3 with combination of urea 1% and GA3 15 ppm with respective treatments twice in month of September and October on sunburn percentage and fruit quality of mandarin. The obtained results showed that, GA3 15 ppm+ urea 1% and kaolin 5% foliar applications were effective to control fruit sunburn as well as reducing severity percentage of sunburned fruit as compared to untreated trees. Moreover, Kaolin foliar application at two times was decreased leaf and fruit surface temperature especially at the concentration of 3% and 5%. Therefore, it could be recommended that, spraying kaolin at 3% and 5% two times in month of September and October, because it had a positive effect on preventing fruit sunburn damage and improvement marketable yield of mandarin trees.