Effect of Fertigation on Growth, Yield and Quality of Acid Lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) under North Gujarat Conditions

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted from 2020–21 to 2022–23 at the Horticultural Instructional Farm of Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Gujarat, to evaluate fertigation levels in mature acid lime cv. Kagzi lime. Four treatments were evaluated with five replications: 100% of the recommended fertiliser dose applied to the soil and 100%, 80%, or 60% of the recommended dose applied through fertigation. The full recommended dose was 900 g N, 750 g P, and 500 g K per tree annually. Fertigation treatments were applied in five scheduled splits during Hasta bahar. The pooled results showed significant treatment effects on plant spread, fruit dimensions, fruit weight, fruit number, yield, and most fruit-quality and soil parameters. Application of 100% of the recommended dose through fertigation recorded the greatest north–south and east–west plant spread, at 5.52 and 5.25 m, respectively. It also produced the greatest pooled fruit length of 4.25 cm, fruit diameter of 4.21 cm, fruit weight of 42.68 g, and fruit number of 1,287.83 per tree. The corresponding fruit yields were 54.93 kg tree⁻¹ and 15,215.33 kg ha⁻¹. This treatment recorded a juice content of 49.45%, total soluble solids of 7.51 °Brix, ascorbic acid content of 29.05 mg per 100 g pulp, and available P2O5 of 37.30 kg/ha. However, 80% RDF performed well or was statistically at par for some parameters. Under the conditions of this experiment, applying the full recommended fertiliser dose through five fertigation splits produced the best overall growth, yield, and fruit-quality performance.