Response of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) cv. Sathgudi to different planting densities and nutrition schedules

High-density planting (HDP) in sweet orange is a modern approach, that optimizes space and resources. The present investigation was carried out to optimize the dose of NPK fertilizers under different spacing levels of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) cv. Sathgudiat ICAR-AICRP on Fruits (Citrus), Dr. YSRHU-Citrus Research Station, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh for the Ambe Bahar(spring bloom) crop during 2016-2022. Uniformly grown Sathgudi sweet orange plants, grafted onto Rangpur lime rootstock, were planted at three different spacings (6.0 × 6.0 m, 6.0 × 5.0 m, and 6.0 × 4.0 m) and were applied with three levels of NPK fertilizers. The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomized block design with nine treatments replicated three times. Results indicated that high-density planting of sweet orange at 6 × 4 m spacing (416 plantsha^-1), along with the application of 75 kg FYM and 1125 g N, 200 g P₂O₅, and 25 g K₂O plant^-1 year^-1 through inorganic fertilizers not only increased productivity (18.56 tons ha^-1) over the conventional system, but also save the quantity of P fertilizer input by 42.85 % and K by 93.75%.The increase in productivity due to HDP (416 plantsha^-1) over controlwas 33.94 % with highest benefit cost ratio (1.48) and maximum shelf life (21 -days).