Vol. 10, Issue 12 (2021)

Author(s):
JS Parasana, DK Varu, Rinkal F Baladha, BC Gohel and Meera B Solanki

Abstract:
The present experiment entitled “Effect of pruning and integrated nutrient management on growth and flowering of custard apple (Annona squamosa L.) cv. Sindhan” was carried out at Fruit Research Station, Madhadi Baugh Farm, Department of Fruit science, College of Horticulture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh during April 2019 to November 2020. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with Factorial concept (FRBD) consisting three factors with three replications. The result revealed that application of different level of pruning had produced non-significant effect on growth and flowering parameters viz., plant height and plant spread (N-S and E-W) except length of shoot (13.40 cm) and number of flowers per shoot (14.94) which were higher in medium pruning at 20 cm (P₃), while minimum days to flower initiation (73.41) was recorded with unpruned tree (P₁). In case of integrated nutrient management, the variation was also found non-significant for growth parameters viz., plant height and plant spread (N-S and E-W) except length of shoot (14.95 cm) with the application of 100% RDN + 10 kg FYM + Azotobacter 15 ml + PSB 15 ml + Micronutrient grade-IV (0.5%) + GA₃ 25 ppm (F₂). Similarly, the minimum days to flower initiation (70.72) was recorded with application of 60% RDN + 10 kg FYM (F₅). Whereas, maximum number of flower per shoot (16.27) was recorded in 80% RDN + 10 kg FYM + Azotobacter 30 ml + PSB 30 ml + Micronutrient grade-IV (1.0%) + GA₃ 50 ppm (F₄). For interaction effect, the result was found non-significant for all parameters.