The Effect of Different Nutrient Management Practices on Yield and Leaf Nutrient Composition of Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbec)

Abstract

The present study was carried out during three successive seasons. The experiment was laid out in Randomized block design (RBD) with thirteen treatments replicated four times to study the effect of different nutrient management practices on fruit yield and leaf nutrient composition. The result revealed that among the different treatments combination treatment (T13) with Application of NPK in 8 splits with drip irrigation + vermicompost @ 3 tonne ha-1 and biofertilizers i.e Azotobacter and PSB @ 2000 ml per ha and trichoderma @ 1 kg ha-1 + 8 spraying of Zn (0.5%), Fe (0.5%) and B (0.2%) found to be most effective in producing better yield and yield attributes. However, soil fertility as evident by changes in soil available N, P, K, S, Fe and Zn as well as leaf concentration of N, P, K, S, Fe, Zn and B significantly improved with combining application RDF, vermicompost and biofertilizer with or without fertigation along with foliar feeding of micronutrients viz. Zn, Fe and B.