FRUIT YIELD AND QUALITY OF PEACH (Prunus persica Batsch.) AS INFLUENCED BY DIFFERENTIAL APPLICATION OF ZINC

The data revealed that fruit yield of peach increased with increasing application of zinc sulphate. The maximum fruit size (5.0 cm length and 4.9 cm breadth), fruit weight (89.00 g), fruit yield per plant (58.25 kg) and yield per unit area (64.07 q/hectare) were observed with 800 g ZnSO4 per plant as soil application followed by foliar spray (0.5%) whereas minimum yield was obtained without zinc application. Zinc application also improved total soluble solids (TSS) and TSS:acid ratio. However, acidity of fruits obtained from treated and untreated plants was not differ significantly but the highest acid content was observed in control plants, whereas lowest was in foliar application of 0.50% ZnSO4. Fruits were also more palatable in Zinc applied plants. The highest concentration of zinc (11.55 ppm) in leaves was observed at higher doses of soil zinc application and was in lowest in control plants.