Efficacy of Different Phosphorus Levels on Growth and Yield of Phalsa (Grewia asiatica L.).

A field study was conducted to assess the potential role of phosphorus (P) on growth and yield of Phalsa (Grewia asiatica L.). Healthy phalsa plants were fertilized with P2O5 @ 50g, 100g and 150g plant-1. Data were recorded on number of fruit bush-1, yield bush-1 (kg), single fruit weight (g), fruit diameter (cm), number of fruiting nodes, length of new shoot (cm), number of sprouted shoots cane-1 and leaf area (cm2). Treatments were applied under Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in triplicates and means were compared by Tukey's HSD test. Association of the biological traits of phalsa with phosphorus was further estimated by correlation analysis. Results indicated that phosphorus application @ 150g plant-1 has improved various traits i.e. number of fruit bush-1 (4866.7), yield bush-1 (2.19 kg), single fruit weight (0.656 g), number of fruiting nodes (12.18) and number of sprouted shoots cane-1 (13.89). However, vegetative characters particularly leaf area showed negative correlation (-0.264) with the increased amount of phosphorus. Fruit diameter (p=0.993) and length of new shoot (p=0.122) did not exhibited any correlation with applied phosphorus. Overall it is concluded that phosphorus is not only helpful but necessarily required for fruit quality and optimum yield of phalsa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]