Organic production of sweet orange [Citrus Sinensis (L) osbeck] cv nucellar Mosambi under western Maharashtra conditions

Abstract

The use of organic fertilizers with biofertilizers offers a great opportunity for sustainable fruit production of sweet orange in western Maharashtra. The present study was conducted to find out the effect of vermicompost and biofertilizers on growth, yield, quality and nutrient status of sweet orange under western Maharashtra conditions in randomized block design with five treatment combinations replicated four times. The data revealed that the maximum plant height (3.40 and 3.29 m), average fruit weight (197.80 and 195.30 g), TSS (10.00 and 9.89°B) with minimum acidity (0.46 and 0.51%) were recorded in treatments comprising application of 75 per cent vermicompost on N-equivalent basis of RDF + Trichoderma harzianum 30-40 ml/plant + 1 per cent azadirachtin 3-4 ml/l as spray + Pseudomonas fluorescence 30-40 ml/plant and treatment comprising 75 per cent vermicompost on N-equivalent basis of RDF + T harzianum 30-40 ml/plant + 1 per cent azadirachtin 3-4 ml/l respectively as spray with better improvement in nutrient status at the end of the experimentation. However the former treatment resulted in maximum number of fruits per tree (292.12), yield per hectare (15.97 tonnes) and ascorbic acid content (55.32 mg/100 ml juice) as compared to all other treatments.