Studies on the Effect of Foliar Application of Micronutrients in Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L. 'VRI-3')

Micronutrient disorders were observed during the early stage as well as the full grown stage of cashew. Application of micronutrients as foliar spray was very effective in cashew compared to the soil application. The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of foliar application of micronutrients on growth and yield of cashew cultivar 'VRI-3' with the objective to improve nut yield. This experiment was carried out in a farmer's field at Kandamanur, Theni District of Tamil Nadu during the year 2010-2011. This trial was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with seven treatments and replicated thrice. The present study revealed that the combined foliar application of micronutrient mixtures recorded the highest values in the treatment of 0.75% ZnSO4, 0.75% FeSO4, 0.75% CuSO4, 0.5% Borax, 0.2% MnSO4 applied as foliar spray along with the recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) for the characters such as average apple weight (59.66 g), number of fruits per tree (2015.0), average nut weight (7.40 g), 100 nut weight (671.66 g), yield per tree (15.66 kg/tree) and estimated yield per ha (2.70 t/ha), followed by the treatment with 0.5% ZnSO4, 0.5% FeSO4, 0.5% CuSO4, 0.3% Borax, 0.1% MnSO4 applied as foliar spray along with the RDF which recorded higher values for the traits such as average apple weight (57.86 g), number of fruits per tree (1971), average nut weight (7.28 g), 100 nut weight (661.66 g), yield per tree (15.58 kg/tree) and estimated yield per ha (2.64 t/ha). However, the control recorded the lowest in all the traits.