Efficacy of bio-fertilizers and mulching on growth, yield and quality of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) cv. Chandler

Abstract

A study was undertaken to examine the efficacy of bio-fertilizers and mulching on growth, yield and quality of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) cv. Chandler during two successive years, i.e. 2012-13 and 2013-14 at Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), India. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications and ten treatments. One year old runners were used for planting. Significantly increase in plant height (19.20 and 18.70cm), number of leaves (17.15 and 16.75), number of runners (2.28 and 2.17) and number of crowns (2.78 and 2.64) per plant, whereas minimum number of days (66.00 and 65.33 days) to produce first flower, maximum number of flowers (16.18 and 15.87) and fruits set (15.13 and 14.72) per plant during both the years of experimentation was observed with strawberry plants treated with Azotobacter 7 kg/ha+black polythene mulch. Maximum duration ofharvesting (67.85 and 67.00 days) with higher yield (109.12 and 107.00 g/plant) of berries was also recorded with Azotobacter 7 kg/ha+black polythene mulch treated plants in both the years. As far the quality characters of berries are concerned, strawberry plants produced berries of significantly maximum length (2.92 and 2.90 cm), width (1.83 and 1.79 cm), weight (7.15 and 7.11g), volume (4.39 and 4.36 cc), TSS (7.19 and 7.16 0Brix), total sugars (5.63 and 5.60 %) and ascorbic acid (56.13 and 56.00 mg/100g pulp) with minimum acidity (0.250 and 0.249%) when treatedwith Azotobacter 7 kg/ha+black polythene mulch in northern plains of India.

Effect of Plant Growth Regulator and Micronutrient on Growth, Flowering, and Physical Quality Parameters of Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) cv. Dehradun

“…The maximum (28.14 and 27.13) days required to flowering was presented with control (G 0 Z 0 ) during both the years of experiments. These results are also in conformity with the findings of Mukhtar et al [14] in olive and Tripathi and Shukla [15] in strawberry. GA application also enhanced the number of flowers per shoot, might be due to enforcement of photosynthetic and other metabolic activities which lead to increase in various plant metabolites responsible for cell division and cell elongation, photosynthetic activity, respiration as well as growth of plant.…”

Functional Foods and Their Implications for Health Promotion

“…For instance, when investigating the effect of production systems on strawberry quality, Fan et al (2011) demonstrated that plastic mulch with row covers improved postharvest nutritional value by increasing total phenolic and antioxidant levels (Fan et al, 2011). Other studies have demonstrated that the application of black polythene mulching alone (Bakshi et al, 2014; and in combination with azotobacter bio-fertilization improved total sugar, ascorbic acid, and protein content in strawberries (Tripathi et al, 2017). Moor et al (2004 reported similar increase in vitamin C content with plastic and straw mulch (Moor et al, 2004), while Wang et al (1998) demonstrated accumulation of ascorbic acid, ellagic acid, and carbohydrates in strawberry plants grown using black polyethylene, red polyethylene and straw-vetch mulches (Wang et al, 1998).…”

Fruit Characteristics and Yield of Mango cv. Amrapali as Influenced by Bio-enhancers and Bio-fertilizers

“…Therefore, the combined use of biofertilizer, Panchagavya, and FYM improved the mango's fruiting characteristics because more food material was accumulated in the trees and was used effectively for the production of fruits. Sau et al [11], Tripathi et al, [12] in strawberry and Tripathi et al, [13] in aonla. The usage of Panchagavya coupled with FYM and biofertilizers resulted in the accumulation of additional food material and its effective utilization for the growth of fruits, which led to the rise in fruit volume.…”