Effect of foliar application of nutrients and growth regulators on fruit cracking and quality of Eureka lemon under rainfed conditions

An experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with 13 treatments, consisting of foliar spraysof K₂SO₄ (6.0, 8.0 and 10%), CaCl₂ (0.5, 0.75 and 1%), 2, 4-D (20, 30 and 40 ppm), NAA (20, 30 and 40 ppm) and control (10 ppm GA₃) and each treatment replicated thrice. Among the various treatments, spray of 40 ppmNAA was found to be most effective for minimizing fruit cracking (13.06%) as compared to other treatments andthis treatment also recorded maximum fruit length (5.45 cm), fruit breadth (5.22 cm), fruit weight (71.38 g), pulpweight (37.47 g), rind weight (17.55 g), rind thickness (2.64 mm) specific gravity (1.02), Juice content (50.97%), TSS (7.9^oBrix), acidity (5.77%) and ascorbic acid (50.76 mg/100 ml). Among the nutrients, minimum fruit cracking(17.96%) was noticed with the application of 10% K₂SO₄ and this treatment also recorded the maximum fruit length (5.42 cm), fruit breadth (5.09 cm), fruit weight (67.10 g), pulp weight (36.20 g), rind weight (16.30 g), rindthickness (2.54 mm), Juice content (48.94%), TSS (7.6°B), acidity (5.67%) and ascorbic acid (50.68 mg/100 ml).