Effect of mulching and irrigation interval on fruit quality and yield of litchi cv. Dehradun Bhandari Ambika, Sharma Arti*, Wali V.K., Kour Darpreet Division of Fruit Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, 181202, Jammu & Kashmir *Corresponding author's E-mail: drartisharma02@gmail.com
Online published on 23 January, 2018. Abstract A study was conducted at the Research Farm, Division of Fruit Science, FOA Udheywalla, SKUAST, Jammu on 20-year-old trees of litchi cv. Dehradun. Trees were subjected to mulching with different types ofmaterials (black polythene and paddy straw) and supplied with controlled irrigations @ 200 l/tree at 3, 6 and 9day intervals. Results revealed that the trees supplied with irrigation at 6 day interval and mulched with blackpolythene (T8) showed least fruit cracking (10.15%) and maximum fruit yield (59.33 kg/tree). Fruit weight (18.27g), fruit length (3.28 cm), fruit diameter (2.92 cm), pulp weight (10.45 g) and fruit firmness (2.51 kg/cm2) werealso found to be maximum in trees mulched with black polythene and irrigated at 6 day interval with highestbenefit: cost ratio (2.77: 1). Top Keywords Litchi, mulching, irrigation, fruit cracking, yield. Top |