Influence of Foliar Application of Biovita (Bio-Fertilizer) on Fruit Set, Yield and Quality of 'Dashehari' Mango (Mangifera indica L.)

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) "king of fruits", cultivation is quite popular in India because of its delicious taste, nutritional value, high potential for employment and income generation with commercial importance of its wider adaptability. The constraint analysis made by various experts in the field focused on the use of chemical fertilizers to the plants at different times as nutrient supplement is labour intensive and not cost apparent. Also the growing need and demand for organic products in the world market makes it suitable for fruits grown under organic fertilizer or biofertilizer because of its non-toxic, eco-friendly, pollution free and it contains essential macro-and micronutrients and other supplements needed for the plant. Hence, the present investigation entitled "A study on foliar application of Biovita (Bio-fertilizer) on fruit set and yield of 'Dashehari' mango (Mangifera indica L.)" was carried out at the Mango Orchard, Department of Horticulture, Allahabad Agricultural Institute, Deemed University, Allahabad. Biovita (bio-fertilizer) is one such product containing 60 naturally occurring major and minor nutrients produced from freshly harvested extract of Norwegian seaweed viz., (Ascophyllum nodosum), helpful for obtaining maximum yield and better quality crop. There were 20 treatments with three replications laid out in 4x5 factorial design. The treatment combinations consisted between the interaction effect of different concentrations of Biovita liquid viz., 0, 10, 15 and 20 ml and different stages of reproductive growth viz., fruit set, fruit development and 15 days before first plucking of fruits. The trees treated with 20 ml of Biovita (liquid) at all stages of reproductive growth showed maximum fruit set (44.15%), fruit weight (186.89 g), yield (50.84 kg) and fruit length (11.83 cm) and width (5.38 cm) respectively, compared to control and other treatments.