Response of Custard Apple cv. 'Arka Sahan' Plants to Integrated Nutrient Management

Response of custard apple cv. “Arka Sahan” plants to integrated nutrient management was carried out at Fruit Research Farm, Department of Fruit Science, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalawar, India during the year 2010-11. Results indicated that different treatments of integrated nutrient sources influenced the growth and development characteristics viz. plant height, number of leaves/plant, number of primary branches/plant, rootstock girth, scion girth, East-West and North-South spread of custard apple cv. Arka Sahan during gestation period. The studies clearly revealed that treatment comprising vermicompost in combination with 50% recommended dose of fertiliz er (RDF) and biofertilizers attained significantly higher plant height, rootstock girth, scion girth, plant spread (E-W and N-S), leaf area and soil NPK content over other treatments including control. This treatment combination also resulted in significantly better impact with respect to higher vegetative growth parameters over other treatments including the control. The application of vermicompost along with 50 % N through RDF and biofertilizers provided better nutrition as it contained all the macro and micro nutrients required for growth and development of plants. It also improved physicochemical properties of soil around the treated plants by reducing pH and EC, improving water holding capacity and enriching the organic carbon and the N, P, K status of the soil over other treatments.