Studies on the Effect of Foliar Application of Micronutrients for Growth, Yield, Economic Traits and Leaf Nutrient Content in Cashew (Anacardium occidantale L.) Var. VRI 3

Abstract

The present field experiment on studies on the effect of foliar application of micronutrients for growth, yield, economic traits and leaf nutrient content of cashew var. VRI-3 was carried out at Horticultural College and Research Institute, Periyakulam and an experiment was conducted at a farmer’s field at Kandamanur, Theni District during the year 2016 – 2017, 2017 – 2018 and 2018 – 2019. The objective is to enhance the growth, flowering, nut yield, and economic traits of cashew var. VRI 3. Experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with seven treatments and replicated thrice. Foliar application of micronutrients was done three times in a year June – July, October – November and January – February with ten years old randomly selected trees. Experimental results revealed that the highest values of growth, flowering and yield traits were recorded in the treatment T4 (NPK + micronutrient combination II (Recommended dose of fertilizer along with 0.75 % ZnSO4 + 0.75 % CuSO4 + 0.75 % FeSO4 + 0.2 % MnSO4 + 0.5 % Boric acid) such as plant height, number of panicle per m2, number of fruits per panicle, average apple weight, number of fruits per tree, average nut weight, 100 nut weight, yield per tree, estimated yield and B:C ratio for three years whereas the control (T1) registered the lowest values for all the traits were observed. The same trend was noticed in leaf nutrient content. T4 exhibited the highest values of leaf nutrient content such as N,P,K and micronutrient contents viz., Iron, Zinc, Manganese and Copper whereas the lowest values were recorded in control (T1). In the present study it was concluded that the T4 registered the highest values for growth, yield and economic traits of cashew var. VRI-3.