Effects of doses and splits of fertilizer application on harvesting time, yield and quality of Mango cv. Amrapali.
Sarker B. C., Rahim M. A.
Author Affiliation: Horticulture Research Centre, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Jamalpur, Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Research 37 : 279-293
Abstract : The experiment was carried out at the Germplasm Centre of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the fruiting season of 2005-06 to investigate the effects of fertilizer and its installment of application on harvesting time, yield and quality of fruits of 8 years old mango plant cv. Amrapali. Four fertilizer doses i.e. T1: 50% of the fertilizer dose (cowdung12.5 kg, urea375 g, TSP200 g, MoP125 g, gypsum125 g and zinc sulphate7.5 g per plant), T2: 100% of the fertilizer dose (cowdung25 kg, urea750 g, TSP400 g, MoP250 g, gypsum250 g and zinc sulphate15 g per plant), T3: 150% of the fertilizer dose (cowdung37.5 kg, urea1125 g, TSP600 g, MoP375 g, gypsum375 g and zinc sulphate22.5 g per plant), and T4: control (no fertilizer) and three splits of application i.e. A1: One installment (whole fertilizer applied on 15 September), A2: Two installments (15 September and 15 March) and A3: Three installments (15 September, 15 March and 15 May) were included as treatments. Plants receiving 150% of the fertilizer dose in three installments caused delayed harvest by 11 days compared to control than that of the control. Plants treated with 150% of fertilizer dose in combination with three installments produced the highest number of fruits (96/plant) as well as the highest yield (19.55 kg/plant) as compared to control (23/plant and 3.48 kg/plant). Applying fertilizer at 150% of the fertilizer dose in three installments improved the fruit quality with regard to TSS, pH, titratable acidity, vitamin C, moisture content, dry matter content, reducing sugar, non reducing sugar and total sugar content over control. Thus, this treatment may be recommended for fertilizer management in mango cultivation.