Propagation Method Modifies the Response of Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cv. Bhagwa to Foliar Nutrition: A Comparison of Air-layered and Tissue-cultured Plants
Syed Shabanam
Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
G. M. Waghmare
Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
V. S. Khandare
Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
S. S. Ghatul
Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
B. M. Kalabandi
Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
V. N. Shinde
Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
A. M. Bhosale
Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
R. D. Baghele
Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
A. S. Lokhare
Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
K. D. Deshmukh
Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
Apoorva Gudareddi
Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
K. N. Mahesh
Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
Vishal S. Hivare *
Department of Agricultural Botany, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, 4310402, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Pomegranate orchards are established from both air layers and tissue-cultured plantlets, but whether the two kinds of planting material respond alike to foliar nutrition has seldom been tested in the same orchard. A two-year field experiment was conducted during the mrig bahar seasons of 2018–19 and 2019–20 at Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani, in a Factorial Randomised Block Design combining two propagation methods, air-layered (P₁) and tissue-cultured (P₂), in five-year-old Bhagwa trees with eleven foliar treatments comprising chelated micronutrients, gibberellic acid and the biofertiliser consortium Biomix at two concentrations each, their combinations and an unsprayed control, all applied as three sprays at 45, 90 and 135 days after flowering. Pooled over seasons, air-layered plants were significantly superior for every growth and yield attribute, attaining 241.13 cm plant height at 90 DAF against 198.36 cm, 13.76 branches per plant against 12.46, 15.37 kg yield per plant against 14.66 kg and 11.37 t ha⁻¹ against 10.85 t ha⁻¹. The propagation × treatment interaction was significant for the major growth and yield attributes, and its form was one of magnitude rather than of reversal: the three-way combination of chelated micronutrients at 3.0 g L⁻¹ + GA₃ at 75 ppm + Biomix at 0.3% was the best treatment in both kinds of planting material, but its yield advantage was larger in air-layered plants (19.72 kg per plant and 14.60 t ha⁻¹) than in tissue-cultured plants (16.82 kg per plant and 12.45 t ha⁻¹), whereas the heaviest and largest fruits were produced by treated tissue-cultured plants (P₂N₈: 305.18 g fruit weight and 494.47 arils per fruit against 259.62 g and 437.82 in P₁N₈). The lowest values were generally recorded by unsprayed tissue-cultured plants. A single foliar recommendation is thus agronomically sound for both categories of planting material, while the yield expectation must be set separately for each.
Keywords: Bhagwa pomegranate, air layering, tissue culture, planting material, propagation × treatment interaction, foliar nutrition, yield