Relationship of leaf K with N status of Nagpur mandarin orchards

Survey of 53 Nagpur mandarin orchards covering 12 locations in Kalmeshwar tehsil and 16 locations in Katol tehsil of Nagpur district was conducted to find out the relationship between leaf K and N status and its effect on fruit yield. The study indicated that on an average, 62% orchards were high in leaf K status and other 36% orchards were optimum in K content. The high leaf K status of these orchards was further associated with low leaf N content as 96% orchards contained deficient level of N (less than 2.2 percent). Due to inverse relationship between leaf N and K, leaf N/K ratio was perhaps a more reliable index compared to either leaf N or leaf K individually to ascertain balance of N and K nutrition of mandarin orchards. Only 22% orchards possessed an optimum leaf N/K ratio of 2.4 to 3.0.