Foliar Application of Low Bi-Uret Urea and Micronutrients Improves Growth, Yield and Quality of Mango (Mangifera indica L.) Cv. Chaunsa

Micronutrients have a pronounced effect upon the growth and yield of various plant species. In this study the impact of foliar application of low bi-uret urea (LBU) and micronutrients on vegetative growth, reproductive growth patterns, yield and quality of mango (Mangifera indica L) cv. Chaunsa was investigated. The research work was conducted at experimental fruit orchard square # 9, Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad on twelve years old, 24 uniform plants of mango cv. Chaunsa, growing under similar agro climatic conditions. The treatments were consisting of foliar application of LBU (2%), zinc and copper at three levels (0.4, 0.6, 0.8% ZnSO4 and 0.05, 0.10, 0.15%CuSO4) with a fixed concentration of low bi-uret urea (LBU) at 2.0% and control (water spray). Foliar application of each treatment was done at half panicles emergence stage. The experiment was laid out according to randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 8 treatments (including control) replicated thrice and single plant was taken as treatment unit. The data regarding various vegetative growth parameters (emergence of new flushes/plant after application, total number of flushes/plant), reproductive growth parameters (total number of healthy panicles/plant, length of healthy panicle (mm), width of healthy panicles (mm), fruit set percentage), yield per tree and fruit quality were recorded. Our preliminary results indicated that increasing levels of ZnSO₄ with LBU significantly improved the vegetative and reproductive growth, fruit set percentage, yield and quality of the fruit however in future systematic efforts are required to check the efficacy of various micronutrients alone and in combinations to standardize the varietal specific recommendations for foliar application.