Foliar application of calcium and micronutrients for yield, quality and fruit shelf life enhancement in papaya var. Surya

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to assess the effect of foliar application of micronutrients (boron and zinc) and calcium on yield characteristics, quality attributes and fruit shelf life of papaya (Carica papaya L.) var. Surya at College of Agriculture Vellayani during 2019-20.The field experiment was laid out in randomized block design with nine treatments and three replications. Among different treatments, foliar application of borax (0.5%), zinc sulphate (0.5%) along with calcium nitrate (0.5%) had most favorable effect in increasing the yield characters likefruit weight (722 g), fruit length (21.0 cm), fruit girth (39.8 cm), fruit volume (709.3cc), pulp percentage(82.1%), flesh thickness (3.2cm), number of fruits plant-1 (50.5) and total yield plant-1 (36.5kg), qualitative attributes like TSS (14.5ºbrix), total carotenoids (2.2 mg 100g-1), ascorbic acid (65.3 mg 100g-1), total sugar (9.8 %)and shelf life of papaya fruits (7.0 days). The control plants showed the lowest values for fruit weight (384.2 g), fruit length (14.5 cm), fruit girth (26.8 cm), fruit volume (309cc), pulp percentage(61.3%), flesh thickness (1.8cm) and total yield plant-1 (13.6kg), qualitative attributes like TSS (11.1ºbrix), total carotenoids (1.4mg 100g-1), ascorbic acid (43.2mg 100g-1), total sugar (6.6%) and shelf life of papaya fruits (4.2 days). water spray recorded lowest value for number of fruits plant-1(35.2).