Isfahan University of Technology Dryland Soil Research (DLSR) 3115-9486 1 1 2022 12 01 Impact of fertigation on fruit yield and quality of plum (Prunus domestica) 137 141 3523 10.47176/jsssi.01.01.1026 EN Syed Azam Shah Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Peshawar, Pakistan Shahzada Asif Ali Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Peshawar, Pakistan Parvez Khan Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Peshawar, Pakistan Samreen Shehzadi Pakistan Institute for Nuclear Science & Technology (PINSTECH), Nilore, Islamabad, Pakistan Journal Article 2023 10 16 Plum is an important stone fruit of Pakistan. The productivity of plum orchards in Pakistan is very low, particularly owing to the unbalanced and untimely application of fertilizer and irrigation by the farmers. Fertigation is a technique in which dissolved fertilizers are used for crops together with an irrigation system. Combined application of nutrients and water with an efficient irrigation system can result in the maximum possible yield and quality of plants. A two-year field experiment in Peshawar, Pakistan was conducted during 2018-2020 to evaluate the effect of fertigation of different rates of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) fertilizers on yield and quality of plum. Fruit-bearing plum orchards of uniform age and size were selected. The treatments included T1 (control), T2 (NPK @ 360-250-360 g tree^-1 applied as broadcast), T3 (NPK @ 360-250-360 g tree^-1 applied as fertigation), T4 (270-187-270 g tree^-1 applied as fertigation) and T5 (NPK @ 180-125-180 g tree^-1 applied as fertigation). All the fertilizers were applied to the periphery of the plum tree canopy. The yield and fruit concentration of N, P, and K were significantly (P<0.05) improved in the treatments where nutrients were applied as fertigation as compared to those where fertilizers were applied as broadcast. Plum fruit yield was recorded as maximum (90.1 kg plant^-1) when NPK @ 180-125-180 g tree^-1 was applied as fertigation. Similarly, maximum N (0.56%), P (0.19%), and K (1.53%) concentrations as well as the highest value cost ratio (101.3) were obtained by the application of NPK @ 180-125-180 g tree^-1 as fertigation. https://dlsr.iut.ac.ir/article_3523_939314105ce8701e67489642ef4d49e8.pdf