Response of acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) to nutrient schedules and plant spacings: A 5-years study

An experiment was conducted to study the nutrient requirement of acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle), cv Balaji under different plant spacings at AICRP on Fruits (Citrus), DrYSRHU-Citrus Research Station, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh with regrad to quality production of acid lime and economic returns. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design with three replications, using three planting densities (S₁, S₂ and S₃, represented by S₁:6×6 m with 277 plants/ ha, S₂:6×5m with 333 plants/ha and S₃:6×4m with 416 plants/ha) and three nutrition levels (L₁ L₂ and L₃ denoting 75%, 50% and 100%, of recommended doses of fertilizers, RDF). Among the interaction effects, S₁L₃ was the control with regular planting density (6×6 m) and nutrition (100% of RDF) practices. Significantly highest fruit yield (1289 fruits/ plant, 52.11 kg/plant and 21.68 tons/ha) was recorded with S₃L₂, when plants were spaced at 6x4m (416 plants/ha) with 50% RDF (400g N: 300g P₂0₅: 400 g K₂ O/ plant/year). Maximum benefit cost ratio (1.92) was also recorded due to the highest productivity. It is, therefore, recommended 6m × 4m spacing with 50% RDF increased 49% yields over the conventional system and profit to acid lime growers.