Foliar Application of Chelated Micronutrients, Gibberellic Acid and Biofertilisers Improves Vegetative Growth, Fruit Retention and Yield of Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cv. Bhagwa

Pomegranate orchards in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra frequently exhibit suboptimal canopy development and heavy fruitlet abscission, both of which limit marketable yield. 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, on five-year-old Bhagwa trees to quantify the responses of vegetative growth, flowering behaviour, fruit retention and yield to eleven foliar treatments comprising chelated micronutrients (3.0 and 4.0 g L⁻¹), gibberellic acid (75 and 100 ppm), the biofertiliser consortium Biomix (0.3 and 0.4%), their combinations and an unsprayed control, each applied three times, at 45, 90 and 135 days after flowering. The experiment was laid out in a Factorial Randomised Block Design with two propagation methods (air-layered and tissue-cultured plants) and two replications. Pooled over seasons, the three-way combination of chelated micronutrients at 3.0 g L⁻¹ + GA₃ at 75 ppm + Biomix at 0.3% (N₈) produced the tallest trees (255.53 cm at 90 DAF against 187.57 cm in the control), the greatest number of branches per plant (16.58 against 11.51), the most leaves per branch (1097.80 against 806.02) and the widest stem girth (17.23 cm against 13.04 cm). The same treatment advanced flowering, lowered fruit drop and recorded the highest yield of 18.27 kg per plant and 13.52 t ha⁻¹, exceeding the control by 47.3 per cent, while the control gave only 12.40 kg per plant and 9.18 t ha⁻¹. Fruit set and the number of fruits retained at harvest responded differently, with the highest values recorded under GA₃ at 100 ppm (81.52 and 70.94 per plant, respectively). Three sprays of chelated micronutrients at 3.0 g L⁻¹ + GA₃ at 75 ppm + Biomix at 0.3% are therefore recommended for improving the productivity of Bhagwa pomegranate under Marathwada conditions.