Regulation of shoot growth, flowering and fruiting with Cultar in mango cv. Dashehari.
Sanjay Singh, Jayant Singh
Author Affiliation: Department of Horticulture, B.A.C. Sabour, Bhagalpur (Bihar), India.
Orissa Journal of Horticulture 31 : 40-43
Abstract : A study was conducted with mango cv. Dashehari in Sabour, Bihar, India, during 1997 and 1998 to investigate the effect of Cultar on mango cv. Dashehari. The treatments comprised Cultar at 500 ppm spray, Cultar at 1000 ppm spray, Cultar at 2000 ppm spray, Cultar at 5 g a.i./tree by trunk soil line pour method, Cultar at 10 g a.i./tree by trunk soil line pour method, and 2 controls (water spray and water trunk soil line pour method). Application of Cultar reduced the length of terminal shoots and the effect was more pronounced during off-year (1998). The minimum length of terminal shoot (9.49 cm) was recorded in soil application of Cultar at 5 g a.i./plant which was closely followed by soil application of Cultar at 10 g a.i./tree. Cultar treatment induced profuse flowering which contributed higher production over control. The highest percentage of flowering shoots (35.18%) was recorded under soil application of Cultar at 5 g a.i./tree while the minimum was found under the control during off-year. Both soil and spray treatments of Cultar reduced the average panicle length. The minimum panicle length (21.14 cm) was recorded under soil application of Cultar at 5 g a.i./tree. During the off-year, fruit set was also improved by Cultar treatments. Similarly fruit retention and yield was improved due to Cultar treatments. The tree treated with Cultar as soil application at 5 g a.i./tree produced the maximum fruit yield of 56.11 kg/plant followed by soil application of Cultar at 10 g a.i./tree during the off-year (54.18 kg/plant). The water spray control recorded the minimum fruit yield of 12.14 kg/plant during the off-year. The effect of Cultar treatment was also observed on the quality of fruits in terms of total soluble solids, sugar and ascorbic acid contents in both years. Soil application of Cultar at 5 and 10 g a.i/tree also improved the flowering, fruiting and fruit quality attributes of Dashehari during on-year.