Effect of bio-stimulant on production and quality ofthe kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) cv. Allison

Although growing in popularity in developed countries, organic kiwifruit production still has several operational challenges, including limited availability of organic growth regulators, organic nutritional inputs, and organic insecticides. In this research, eleven treatments viz., T1: water spray (control), T2: 5% KA sap (Kappaphycus alvarezii), T3: 10% KA sap, T4: 5% GE sap (Gracilaria edulis), T5: 10% GE sap, T6: 5% AN sap (Ascophyllum nodosum), T7: 10% AN sap, T8: 5% vermiwash, T9: 10% vermiwash, T10: 5% humic acid and T11: 10% humic acid were used as foliar spray to study their effects on production and quality of kiwifruit cv. Alison, during 2020 to 2023. Results revealed that treatment T8, T2 and T6 were found to be best for improving growth attributes, while, treatment T2, T11, T8 and T5 for fruit quality attributes of kiwifruit cv. Allison. For antioxidant content, T8 was best for DPPH assay and T10 for ABTS assay. Therefore, it can be concluded that application of biostimulants like seaweed extracts and humic acids can be one of the options for increasing the quality and yield of organic kiwifruit production.