Analysis of soil and tree productivity under high density planting system in mango cv. Dashehari (Mangifera indica L.)

Abstract

Farmers have no alternative but to adopt high-density planting for enhancing fruit productivity level and profitability with the shrinking land resources and smaller land holding sizes. The highest yield of 16 t ha -1 followed by 10.0 t ha -1 and the least of 5.5 t ha -1 was recorded from 400, 267 and 100 trees ha -1 , respectively from 19 yrs old Dashehari mango orchard in sandy loam soils at research farm of ICAR-CISH, Rehmankhera, Lucknow. Planting density systems (1600, 800, 400, 266, 178 and 100 trees ha -1 ) also impacted soil properties. Water holding capacity varied between 16.6 to 26.1 % across systems while porosity ranged from 46.2–71.5 %. Likewise, bulk density and particle density had values of 1.2 to1.7 and 2.2 to 2.9 g cm -3 respectively. The mean soil organic carbon content was 0.38%, pH of 7.2, available N, P, K was 66.92, 13.91 and 77.85 mg kg -1 respectively. Soil and leaf micronutrients analyzed across six different density systems showed wide variations and indicated the need for optimum nutrient management. Significant and positive correlations were recorded between soil organic carbon with other soil properties. The study revealed that medium density system (400 trees ha -1 ) is to be practiced at farmers’ field.