Influence of foliar application of micronutrients on fruit growth, yield and quality of peach cv. Shan-e-Punjab

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to study the influence of foliar application of micronutrients on growth, yield and quality ofpeach fruits at Advanced Centre for Horticulture Research, Udheywalla, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu (JandK) during 2016 and 2017. The experimentwas conducted in randomized block design with eight treatments and three replications. Our pre-treatment soil analysis showed sandy loam soil class and alkalinein nature and adequate in organic matter. The fruit quality was evaluated and maximum fruit length, diameterand yield were noted in T8 (0.1 % H3BO3 + 0.5 % ZnSO4.7H2O + 0.5 % FeSO4.7H2O).The juice pH decreased and the juiceacidity increased after foliar spray of micronutrients. The total soluble solids offresh fruit juice ranged from 10.40 to 12.2% and 10.55 to 12.3% (1st year and 2nd year, respectively) and vitamin C ranged from 5.65% to6.70% and 5.70 to 6.80%(1st year and 2nd year, respectively) after foliar spray.So the foliar spray of micronutrients significantly affected the growth, yield and quality of peach fruit.