Physiological and floral responses of mango (<i>Mangifera indica</i>) cv. Banganapalli to pre-flowering chemical treatments

A field experiment was conducted in a mango orchard to investigate the effects of pre-flowering chemical treatments on the physiological and yield attributes of mango cultivar Banganapalli. The research used a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. There were ten different treatments: 1% Urea + 20 ppm NAA (T1), 1% Urea + 200 ppm Salicylic Acid (T2), 2% Urea + 20 ppm NAA (T3), 2% Urea + 200 ppm Salicylic Acid (T4), 1% KNO3 + 20 ppm NAA (T5), 1% KNO3 + 200 ppm Salicylic Acid (T6), 2% KNO3 + 20 ppm NAA (T7), 2% KNO3 + 200 ppm Salicylic Acid (T8), water spray (T9), and an untreated control (T10). Among the various treatments, the application of 2% KNO3 combined with 20 ppm NAA (T7) resulted in the highest physiological indices, including chlorophyll index (42.61, 40.78 and 37.78 SPAD), carbohydrate accumulation (18.86, 26.85 and 24.68 mg 100g-1), leaf nitrogen assimilation (1.35, 1.75 and 1.67%), and C/N ratio (13.97, 15.34 and 14.78). Furthermore, this treatment exhibited superior flowering characteristics, such as increased total flower count per panicle (791.82), enhanced hermaphrodite flower formation (239.40), higher fruit set percentage (0.48 %), improved fruit retention (13.71), greater fruit number (129.22), and higher fruit yield per tree (50.04kg), highlighting its efficacy in promoting reproductive success and yield enhancement in mango cv. Banganapalli.