Influence of GA3 and ZnSO4 on Fruiting, Yield and Quality Parameters of Litchi (Litchi chinensis S.) cv. Dehradun

Abstract

The experiment was carried out at Horticulture Garden, Department of Fruit Science, C. S. Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur (U.P.) during two consecutive years 2020 and 2021. Factorial Completely Randomized Design was used with three replications with sixteen treatments viz., four levels each of GA (0, 30, 60 and 90 ppm) and zinc (0, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7%) and their combination, spraying of these were done twice i.e., before flowering (07 Feb.) and at pea stage (05 April) during both the years. This study for to assess the impact of GA and Zn to better flowering, decrease fruit cracking, better yield with qualitative fruits of litchi cv. Dehradun. From the results it is reported that the treatment of GA 60 ppm and Zinc 0.7 % improved fruit quality like; fruit count prior to foliar spray at pea stage (40.53 and 40.96), fruit count at pit hardening stage (28.79 and 30.36), fruit count at maturity stage (25.36 and 26.21), fruit count at ripening stage (22.23 and 23.06), yield of marketable fruit (72.62 and 74.74 kg/plant) and also increase nutritional qualities of fruit such as total soluble solids (21.47 and 22.600Brix), total sugars (14.31 and 14.34%), juice content (61.86 and 61.91 %), sugar acid ratio (28.89 and 29.91%), ascorbic acid (40.83 and 42.03mg) per 100g fruit pulp, organoleptic test (84.15 and 85.09) and reduction in number of cracked fruits at harvesting (2.45 and 2.11) with reduced titratable acidity (0.431 and 0.427%). It was concluded that the application of GA and Zinc resulted in to significant improvement in yield and quality of litchi with maximum fruit set and retention as well as yield attributing characters such weight of fruit which ultimately increased the yield per plant and thereby per hectare in both GA 60ppm and Zinc at 0.7% in litchi cv. Dehradun in the plains of northern India.