Studies on fruit drop in Kinnow mandarin in relation to nutritional factors

The study was conducted at two locations i.e., Hoshiarpur and Abohar in Punjab to correlate the nutritional status of orchard soil and kinnow leaves with fruit drop. The mean levels of the nutrients (N, P, K, S, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ca and Co) in leaves were found low in declining plants than in healthy plants during May and September. The average level of N in plants was optimum at Abohar but deficient at Hoshiarpur in healthy and in declining plants during mid-May. The P level was optimum at both the locations and in both types of plants. Similar trend was observed for K. Among the micro-nutrients, Zn, S and Co were highly deficient, Ca was low and Fe and Mn were optimum in both types of plants and locations during the period of fruit drop.