Pradeep Raj Rokaya1*, Arjun Kumar Shrestha1 , Dilli Ram Baral1 , and Durga Mani Gautam1

Agriculture and Forestry University

* Corresponding E-mail: rokayapradeep@yahoo.com

* Orcid ID:

Abstract
Mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) reserves a prominent position in the total fruit industry of Nepal. However, quality performance of mandarin has been declined over the last ten years, mainly due to improper improved management practices and has remained as low as 9 tonnes per hectare as compared to other developed countries. Foliar application of GA3 and nutrient application has been found effective and efficient for quality improvement of mandarin across the citrus growing areas of the world. Hence, this experiment was carried out to assess the responses of GA3 and micronutrients in the quality improvement of mandarin production. The experiments on GA3 , urea and micronutrient were conducted in private orchard of Lamjung district. GA3 10, 20 and 30 ppm along with urea (2%), agromin (0.4%) and combined of them was experimented. Results revealed that the fruits treated with GA3 at 20 ppm retained higher fruit weight (128.6 g) and more firmness (3.54 kg/cm2). Combined application of urea at 2% and micronutrients (agromin) at 0.4% resulted in the highest number of fruit (489.55), greater yield (51.82 kg/tree), and maximum weight per fruit (105.5 g).

Keywords: Fruit quality, Gibberellic acid, Peel puncture resistance, Foliar application, Micronutrient