Impact of fertigation on fruit yield and quality of plum (Prunus domestica)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Peshawar, Pakistan

2 Pakistan Institute for Nuclear Science & Technology (PINSTECH), Nilore, Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Dry Land Soil Research (DLSR)
Volume 1, Issue 1
September 2022
Pages 137-141

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