Pre-harvest foliar spray of micronutrients and growth regulators on yield attributes of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) ‘Purbi’

Abstract

The present research work was carried out under Horticulture Garden, Department of Horticulture (Fruit & Fruit Tech.), Bihar Agricultural College, Sabour to examine the response of pre-harvest foliar application of micronutrients and growth regulators on yield attributes of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) 'Purbi'. The results indicate that the micronutrients and plant growth regulators had beneficial effect on flowering, fruiting, fruit retention and fruit yield. The maximum fruit set (48.64%), fruit retention (25.36%) and number of fruits tree(-1) (4982) were recorded with application of NAA (20 ppm) in comparison to control. A minimum fruit drop (74.64%) and fruit cracking (7.96%) was also obtained with application of NAA (20 ppm) while the maximum fruit drop (82.94%) and fruit cracking (13.92%) was recorded under control. The highest fruit yield tree(-1) was recorded with application of NAA (20 ppm) (102.98 kg) followed by 2,4-D (10 ppm) whereas it was recorded minimum in control (56.96 kg). The length, width, volume and weight of fruits were significantly influenced by the application of different micronutrient and growth regulators with maximum fruit length (4.29 cm), width (3.7 cm), volume (18.86 cc) and weight (20.67 g) in the pre-harvest application of NAA (20 ppm), which was statistically at par with foliar spray of 2,4-D (10 ppm), ZnSO(4) (0.50%) and borax (0.75%). However, minimum fruit length (3.36 cm), width (3.62 cm), volume (14.52 cc) and weight (15.76 g) were recorded under control. Therefore, from the experiment, it can be said that the foliar spray of micronutrients and growth regulators were very useful to enhance the yield of litchi orchard significantly.