Macronutrient Status of Apple Orchards of Simla District Bhandari A. R., Sharma V.S.* Department of Soil Sciences and Water Management, H. P. Krishi Vishva Vidyalaya, Solan *Present Address: Agricultural Development Officer, Keylong, Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh.
Summary Twenty three representative apple orchards of Simla district were surveyed for their nutritional status. Red Delicious, Starking Delicious and Golden Delicious cultivars were taken for the survey using spur leaf and mid term shoot leaf sampling procedures. 50, 38, 26, 25, 6 and 1 percent of the leaf samples fall in deficient to low range for P, Ca, S, K, N and Mg, respectively, whereas rest of the samples had adequate to high levels. The two sampling procedures differed significantly only for Ca content for all three cultivars studied. However, for Mg, the differences were significant only for Starking Delicious variety. Golden Delicious cultivar, in general, had lower contents of nutrient elements as compared to Red and Starking Delicious cultivars. The three cultivars under study were at par with each other for K, Ca and Mg whereas, for P, they significantly differed with each other. However, Red and Starking Delicious cultivars differed significantly with Golden Delicious for N and S contents. The locations significantly affected all the nutrients elements, except Ca whereas, locations × cultivar interaction was significant only for N and P. Top |