Dynamics of Essential Nutrients using Leaf Analysis for Evaluating Nutritional Requirements of Stone Fruits in Temperate Region

Plant analysis has been considered a very promising tool to assess nutritional requirements of plants for cost effective and environment friendly agriculture. Diagnosing nutritional status of fruits through plant analysis not only provides the basis of correct fertilizer requirement of the crop but also guides towards the nutritional requirements of future crops. The total contents of nutrients in leaves, and plant parts, compared with critical nutrient range (CNR), provide the basis for interpretation. The accurate plant sampling, handling, and analysis of the sample coupled with a thorough knowledge of cropping history, sampling techniques, soil test data, environmental influences, and nutrient concentrations favour efficient diagnosis and interpretation system. As the nutrient status of leaves varies due to several factors like leaf age, its position on the shoot, growth flushes and fruiting position of the tree and location, it is therefore essential to standardize the leaf sampling technique in different fruit crops. Foliar analysis is not only a tool in determining the total quantity of nutrients removed from the soil but also as a biological method for assessing soil fertility. Accuracy of foliar analysis, however, depend upon specificity of sampled leaves with respect to their position on shoots, age, time of sampling as well as the region where crop is grown. Wide fluctuation in nutrient concentration occur in tissues during growth period, however, most suitable leaf position and sampling time are those which give rise to least variation in its mineral concentration. The nutrient standards developed for recommendation of fertilizers are valid only for each cultivar and under each climate. Among various approaches, leaf analysis has proved to be the best for formation of proper fertilizer scheduling and give accurate guidelines than soil analysis for predicting nutrient needs of fruit trees. This, in turn, leads towards more efficient nutrient management and sustainable crop production. Therefore, the present was undertaken to know the various critical aspects of the use of plant analysis as a diagnostic tool for stone fruit nutrition management.