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Pak. J. Bot., 49(1): 101-108, 2017.

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NUTRIENT COMPOSITION OF BANANA FRUIT AS AFFECTED BY FARM MANURE, COMPOSTED PRESSMUD AND MINERAL FERTILIZERS

AMBRIN RAJPUT¹, MEHRUNISA MEMON^1*, KAZI SULEMAN MEMON¹, SHAMSUDDIN TUNIO², TANVEER ALI SIAL³ AND MUHAMMAD ATHAR KHAN⁴

¹Department of Soil Science, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Pakistan,

²Department of Agronomy, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Pakistan

³College of Resources & Environment, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China

⁴Plant Physiology Division, Nuclear Institute of Agriculture, Tandojam, Pakistan

^*Corresponding author’s email: nisamemon@gmail.com, Cell No. 0092-22-3313505301

Abstract

Major area under banana cultivation in Pakistan consists of a single cultivar "Dwarf Cavendish" called "Basrai". Quality of banana relies on the available nutrients in soil. Under poor fertility and organic matter scenario coupled with high requirement of banana, this study evaluated the combined effect of organic (farm manure and composted pressmud) and inorganic (NPK) sources of nutrients on nutrient composition of locally grown banana. Application of full NPK (500-250-500 kg ha^-1) increased the fruit P (0.08-0.12%), K (0.77-1.50%) and Zn (1.74-2.17 mg kg^-1) over full N and the respective values further increased to 0.14 and 0.22%, 2.28 and 1.79% and 2.42 and 2.21% with farm manure and composted pressmud additions. Moreover, there was a non-significant increase in N and significant one in Cu and Fe. There was no additional benefit of 1.25 NP. In fact, the higher rates i.e. full NPK and 1.25 NP reduced the micronutrient contents of fruit due to dilution effect. However, the P requirement was same even with application of organic sources. The regression analysis of the yield data with fruit nutrients (N, P, K, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) showed a highly significant relationship with respective “r” values of 0.65, 0.66, 0.75, 0.48, 0.65, 0.71 and 0.73. The integrated use of mineral fertilizers and organic amendments resulted in enhanced banana fruit nutrients and highlights the advantage of conjunctive use over their separate applications.

Key words: Banana fruit, N, P, K, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Pressmud and farm manure