MSc

INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT FOR ENHANCING GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY OF PASSION FRUIT (Passiflora edulis f. edulis SIMS.)

The study entitled “Integrated nutrient management for enhancing growth, yield and quality of passion fruit (Passifloraedulis f. edulisSims.)”was carried out in the Department of Fruit Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during December 2020 to December 2021, with an objective of development of integrated nutrient management practice for passion fruit and to study the effect of integrated nutrient management on growth, yield and quality of passion fruit.
The field experiment was conducted at the Regional Agricultural Research Station, Ambalavayal in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with 12 treatments and 3 replications. Purple passion fruit variety 134P was used for the experiment. The trial was conducted in combinations in which nitrogen requirement of the crop as per Ad hoc POP (25: 10: 25 g NPK vine-1 ) were replaced 25% and 50% with enriched vermicompost mixture which include neemcake, poultry manure, Azospirillum and PGPR mix-I, 1.5 times the Ad hoc Package of practice recommendation (37.5: 15: 37.5 g NPK vine-1 ) and lime application. The fertilizers were applied in three equal split doses, at planting, flowering and fruiting stage. Organic manure (10 kg FYM plant-1) as per Ad hoc POP was given uniformly to all treatments as basal except T12 (absolute control - no fertilizer application) .Urea, Rajphos and Muriate of Potash were used as fertilizer sources. Required quantity of lime based on soil analysis was applied in pits 10 days prior to planting.
The results indicated that the application of N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K of Ad hoc POP recommendation, increased the total yield of passion fruit. Plant girth was found to increase in treatment, N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost and it showed highest plant girth at 4, 10 and 12 months after planting. Number of flowers produced per vine was highest with Ad hoc POP recommendation. The vines treated with N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K had the highest number of flowers produced per vine and the same treatment decreased the days taken for first flowering, days taken for first fruiting and days from flowering to harvest.
There was also an increase in the number of fruits produced at 5, 6, 7 and 8 months after planting and total fruit production per vine in the treatment N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K of Ad hoc POP recommendation. Fruit characters like the rind and pulp colour also improved with application of N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K, which recorded an increase in the fruit weight, seed weight and pulp weight while a decrease in rind weight100 seed weight was highest in fruits from the vines treated with N (50 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (50%), P and K of Ad hoc POP recommendation.
Regarding the fruit quality characters N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K of Ad hoc POP recommendation, showed highest TSS, total sugar, sugar-acid ratio, carotenoid and ascorbic acid with lowest acidity level.
The highest score for organoleptic evaluation of fruits were noticed with the application of N (25 %) as neem cake enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K of Ad hoc POP recommendation
Shelf life at ambient condition was increased with the application of enriched vermicompost in which N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K showed the highest value.
The soil analysis revealed that pH could be brought to near neutral with initial lime application in N (25 %) as Azospirillum enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K of T1, NPK (25 %) as PGPR mix-1 enriched vermicompost + N, P and K 75% and N (50 %) as Azospirillum enriched vermicompost + N (50%), P and K . Highest EC value was recorded in 37.5: 15: 37.5 g NPK vine-1 + 10 kg FYM. Available Nitrogen was highest in N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K of Ad hoc POP recommendation and available potassium was highest in N (50 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (50%), P and K while NPK (50 %) as PGPR mix-1 enriched vermicompost + N, P and K 50% showed highest available phosphorous content.N (25 %) as Azospirillum enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K seemed to have the highest dehydrogenase activity in soil and organic carbon content was highest in N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K of Ad hoc POP recommendation.
Analysing the plant sample shows that the Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium contents were highest in leaf samples from vines treated with 37.5: 15: 37.5 g NPK vine-1 + 10 kg FYM, N (50 %) as neem cake enriched vermicompost + N (50%), P and K and N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K respectively.
Application of N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K of Ad hoc POP recommendation recorded highest nitrogen content in fruits. Plants treated with 37.5: 15: 37.5 g NPK vine-1 + 10 kg FYM reported highest phosphorous content in the fruit sample.
Regarding the net income and B:C ratio obtained, the application of N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K of Ad hoc POP recommendation recorded the highest.
Overall assessment indicated that adoption of Integrated Nutrient Management through application of N (25 %) as poultry manure enriched vermicompost + N (75%), P and K of Ad hoc package of practice (25: 10: 25 g NPK vine-1) given as three equal split doses (at time of planting, flowering and fruiting stage) was economically viable and it improved the growth, fruit yield and quality of passion fruit under Kerala conditions.