Abstract

The present experiment was laid out in the experimental orchard of the Department of Fruit Science, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh during the year 2008 to 2009. The experiment consisted of 19 treatments with three replications. The pomegranate trees cv. kandhari kabuli under investigation were subjected to foliar spray of biostimulants viz. vipul, spic cytozyme, homobrassinolides, biozyme crop plus, vipul + homobrassinolides and control. The study was conducted to determine the effect of plant biostimulants on cracking and quality of fruits. Cracking is a disorder where fruit surface cracks mainly due to heavy irrigation or rain after long dry spell. This may occur due to varietal characters, orchard soil management, inappropriate levels of water at maturity stage, light, temperature and micro-nutrient deficiency. The results revealed that the highest fruit length, diameter, weight, volume and minimum fruit cracking were recorded in trees treated with spic cytozyme (4 ml/l). The highest intensity in ground and over colour were observed with the application of Vipul 15 ml/l.

Key words: Quality, fruit cracking, pomegranate, biostimulants.