The effect of different fertilizer levels on the vegetative and reproductive growth of mango cv. Kesar

The present investigation, entitled “The effect of different fertilizer levels on the vegetative and reproductive growth of mango cv. Kesar” was conducted on a 10-year-old, well-established mango orchard at the Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Latur, VNMKV, Parbhani, during the year 2024-25. The experiment was carried out using a factorial randomized block design with two factors and three replications. The first factor was fertilizer dose (D1: 1000 g N, 500 g P, and 500 g K tree-1, D2: 1500 g N, 500 g P, and 750 g K tree-1, D3: 2000 g N, 500 g P, and 1000 g K tree-1). The second factor was time of application of fertilizer dose on (M1: 50% of N and 100% of P, K in June and 50% of N in August, M2: 50% of N, K and 100% of P in June and 50% of N and 50% of K in August, M3: 50% of N and 100% of P in June and 50% of N, 50% of K in August and 50% of K in November). The treatments were applied as per the experimental plan, and observations were recorded on vegetative and reproductive growth parameters. The results revealed that the application of a fertilizer dose of 2000 g N, 500 g P, and 1000 g K tree-1 recorded the best performance. This treatment resulted in the maximum shoot length (12.25 cm), internodal length (2.71 cm), number of panicles tree-1 (606.77) and length of panicles (31.63 cm). The treatment with time of fertilizer application, the schedule of applying 50% of N and 100% of P in June, followed by 50% of N and 50% of K in August, and 50% of K in November, resulted in the maximum shoot length (11.98 cm), internodal length (2.53 cm), number of panicles tree-1 (618.68) and length of panicles (34.69 cm). However, the interaction effect of fertilizer dose and time of application showed no significant effect on vegetative and reproductive growth parameters.