EVALUATION OF SOIL AND PLANT NUTRIENT STATUS IN RELATION TO POMEGRANATE PRODUCTIVITY
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Date
2015-09
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University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot
Abstract
“Evaluation of soil and plant nutrient status in relation to pomegranate
productivity”, the study was conducted in thirty pomegranate orchards, located in
five villages viz., Govinakoppa, Kaladagi, Sokanadagi, Chikkasamshi and
Hiresamshi of Bagalkot taluka, Karnataka considering three major crieteria viz.,
Bhagwa variety, crop age (3-7 years) and hasta bahar season.
The pomegranate orchards were categorized into low (<11.1 t ha-1), medium
(11.10 to 15.50 t ha-1) and high yielding (>15.5 t ha-1) depending on their yield levels.
Thirteen orchards were grouped under low category with mean yield of 9.42 t ha-1
(8.3-10.1 t ha-1) and nine orchards under medium (11.5 -14.5 t ha-1) and eight
orchards in high yielding (15.5- 22.0 t ha-1) category. The high yielding orchards
recorded significantly higher number of fruits (43-51) and fruit weight (312.80-
364.20g plant-1) as compared to other categories.
In general, the pomegranate farmers were applying low rates of N (107-287 g
plant-1), high rates of P2O5 (187.7-536 g plant-1) and on par rates of K2O (115-300 g
plant-1) as compared to recommended levels (400-625:200:200 N: P2O5: K2O g plant-
1) by various farm institutes.
The soil nutrient status indicated high amounts of organic carbon, available N,
K, S, Mn and B in high yielding orchards while, available Ca, Mg, Cu and Fe were
relatively higher in low yielding orchards. The regression analysis indicated OC, N
and K as critical soil variables explaining most variations in pomegranate yield
followed by B and S.
Similarly, N, B and S were the critical plant nutrient variables explaining most
of the variations in pomegranate yield, followed by K and Ca. Copper was the single
nutrient factor which was negatively correlated to yield at all crop growth stage,
however was insignificant. High yielding orchards recorded significantly higher
concentrations of N (1.74%), K (1.74%), Ca (1.91%), Mg (0.47%), S (0.29%), Mn
(71.56 mg kg-1) and B (14.24 mg kg-1) as compared to low yielding orchards and their
concentration in pomegranate leaves decreased with the advancement of crop growth.
Description
Keywords
Soil Science, POMEGRANATE, SOIL AND PLANT NUTRIENT