Response of Peach to Nitrogen levels by Coated Urea and Calcium sprays

The present investigation was conducted in two consecutive year¿s viz., 2016 and 2017 with ten combining treatments of nitrogen through coated urea and calcium sprays. The maximum annual shoot growth extension, increase in trunk girth and weight of pruning wood were measured under T8. The highest fruit yield was obtained under T5. The lowest fruit yield of 17.41 kg tree-1 in 2016 and 18.52 kg tree-1 in 2017 was recorded in treatment T7. Fruit firmness at harvest did not show significant change under various treatments during both the year of study. However, T2 and T5 came out as the treatments having maximum fruit firmness. The maximum pectin methyl esterase activity was estimated under control (T10), while the minimum was found in treatment T2. The treatment T2 and T3 favourably maintained fruit firmness during the course of storage at ambient. Treatment T2 also showed better organoleptic acceptability and good storability at ambient conditions. The applied treatments also affected the leaf nutrient status (N, P, K and Ca) significantly. The application of calcium chloride @ 1.5% caused marginal leaf scorching, while other two concentrations (0.5% and 1.0%) were safe.