Management of post-harvest diseases of Kinnow fruits through plant growth regulator and food preservative

Studies were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of plant growth regulator {naphthalene acetic acid (NAA)} and food preservative {potassium metabisulfite (KMS)} against post-harvest diseases. Dipping treatment of KMS solution (@ 600 ppm) proved significantly superior to NAA (@ 100 ppm) in respect of retarding the incidence of post-harvest diseases except sour rot. The reduction of 43.5, 53.6 and 40.7% incidence was recorded in core rot, stem-end rot and sour rot disease, respectively in pre-inoculation treatment of KMS (@ 600 ppm) while 28.4, 44.2 and 31.5% reduction in incidence of these diseases was noted in post-inoculation treatment of the same chemical in comparison to control. The disease incidence was found to increase with increasing period of incubation. At 6^th and 8^th day of inoculation, the incidence was significantly higher to the incidence occurred at 3^rd and 4^th day of inoculation, respectively in both pre- as well as post-inoculation treatments.