Standardization of Fertigation Scheduling of Mango under North Gujarat Conditions

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the Horticultural Instructional Farm, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Gujarat, India, during 2020-23 to standardise fertigation scheduling for mango under North Gujarat conditions. The experiment was carried out on cv. Kesar. The experiment included four treatments: T1, 100% recommended dose of fertiliser through fertigation; T2, 80% recommended dose of fertiliser through fertigation; T3, 60% recommended dose of fertiliser through fertigation; and T4, 100% recommended dose of fertiliser through soil application. The recommended dose was 750:160:750 g N:P:K per plant per year. The treatments were replicated five times, and fertigation was applied in four equal splits during the first week of October, February, March and April. Observations were recorded on fruit physical characteristics, yield and quality parameters. The pooled results showed that application of 100% recommended dose of fertiliser through fertigation produced the highest fruit diameter (6.15 cm), fruit weight (214.49 g), fruit yield (59.88 kg plant⁻¹ and 5988.06 kg ha⁻¹), total soluble solids (19.16 °Brix), reducing sugar (4.25%) and total sugar (13.06%). The 80% recommended dose through fertigation was often statistically comparable with the 100% fertigation treatment for selected fruit and quality traits. The lowest yield was generally recorded with 60% recommended dose through fertigation. The findings indicate that fertigation with the full recommended dose of NPK in four split applications improved mango yield and selected quality attributes under the experimental conditions. This schedule may be considered for mango cultivation under similar North Gujarat conditions, subject to local soil, water and orchard management practices.