Effect of Growth Regulators and Nutrient Spray on Fruit Retention and Quality of Plum (Prunus salicina L.) cv. Kala Amritsari Rajput Vinita, Dhankar Kartar Singh, Arun Department of Horticulture, COA, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana Online published on 9 October, 2012. Abstract The Japanese plum (Prunus salicina L.) is an important fruit crop grown in subtropical plains of Punjab, Uttarakhand and Haryana. Its cultivar Kala Amritsari performs very well in the subtropical region, but the main problem is the fruit drop that occurs first, two weeks after fruit set and the second, just before harvesting of fruits. In view of limited area expansion, the production can be increased only by reducing crop losses during fruit drop. The study has reported the results of an experiment conducted at CCSHAU field on 31 fruit trees of plum. Growth regulators (NAA @ 10 ppm) and nutrients (urea @ 2%, ZnSO4 @ 0.5%) were sprayed in different combinations (T1=NAA, T2=NAA+ Urea, T3=NAA+ ZnSO4, T4=Urea and T5=NAA+ Urea + ZnSO4) at two different times (on 15 trees during mid-March and on 15 trees during mid-April) for control of fruit drop and for sustaining good quality production. Observations for fruit yield, fruit drop and quality were recorded accordingly. NAA @ 10 ppm has been found quite effective in increasing size of fruits and decreasing fruit drop. Anthocyanin content was also affected by different treatments. Top Keywords Growth regulators, nutrient spray, fruit drop, Japanese pulm, Haryana. Top |