A.B. Pun , A.K. Shrestha , K. Mishra Tripathi , D.R. Baral

Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Horticulture, 2023, Vol. 13, No. 6   doi: 10.5376/ijh.2023.13.0006
Received: 02 Mar., 2023    Accepted: 27 Apr., 2023    Published: 30 May, 2023

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Pun A.B., Shrestha A.K., 2023, Tripathi K.M., and Baral D.R., 2023, Effect of plant nutrition on fruit set, growth, and yield of mandarin in Nepal, International Journal of Horticulture, 13(6): 1-7 (doi: 10.5376/ijh.2023.13.0006)

Fruit set and retention determine the ultimate yield of mandarin; as adequate mineral elements play key role. The study investigated the effects of foliar applications of nitrogen, potassium, calcium including boron and zinc; alone and their combinations; on fruit set, growth and yield of mandarin; the experiments conducting in the Dhankuta district of Nepal during 2019 and 2020. The results revealed that severe flowers/fruitlets drop occurred to a range of 97.7% to 92.7% during bloom fruit set period as the highest set (7.3%) occurred at foliar spray of NK + micro-nutrients compared to the control treatment (2.3%). Accordingly, compared to the control treatments, spray application of NK+ micro-nutrients, and NPK soil + micro-nutrients increased the higher fruit set by 151.7 and 41.3% respectively during post-bloom since 28^th March until 1^st May. In regard to fruit drop, two treatments of foliar sprays: NPK + B + Zn + Ca; and NK + B + Zn + Ca had the lower fruit drops by 15.8 and 15.4 during June; and by 16.2 and 15.9% during pre-harvest period respectively, compared to the control treatment. The highest fruit diameter (58.9 mm) and weight (63.4 g) were found at the treatment NPK + B + Zn + Ca among the treatments; likewise, the corresponding the highest number of fruits (1790 nos) and total fruit yield (101.81 kg) per tree were also observed at the same treatment. 

Fruit Set; Abscission; Mandarin; Plant nutrients; Foliar spray