Pomegranate is a high value crop as it is a good source of antioxidants and it has gained more importance in human health. In spite of these good characters, pomegranate production is not increasing as per the expectationdue to the various biotic and abiotic stresses. As a fact, foliar application of bio-stimulants and nutrients is an effective strategy employed in fruit crops to induce changes in physiological activities of plant tissues which stimulates stress-induced responsesto decrease biotic and abiotic stresses, which are more prevalent in the dry zone thus aiding in increasing the productivity, quality and profitability. In this present study, preharvest foliar spray of methyl jasmonate (0.5 mM and 1 mM), salicylic acid (300 and 500 ppm), kaolin (3% and 6%), calcium chloride (0.2% and 0.4%) and sulphate of potash (0.5% and 0.8%) sprays effects were investigated on yield attributes of pomegranate. Among the different treatments, kaolin at 3% (T6) was found to be superior with respect to the yield attributes such as fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit volume, rind weight, rind thickness, rind-aril ratio, aril weight per fruit, number of arils per fruit, 100 aril weight per fruit, seed weight, fruit weight, number of fruits per plant, yield, marketable fruits and unmarketable fruits which were on par with salicylic acid (300 ppm) (T4) compared to control (T1) for all the above parameters.

Pomegranate, Bhagwa, Bio-stimulants, Nutrients, Yield

Based on the above results, it can be concluded that kaolin @ 3 % recorded the maximum number of fruits per plant, yield,fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit volume, rind weight, rind thickness, number of arils per fruit, aril weight per fruit, 100 aril weight per fruit, marketable fruits and the minimum rind-aril ratio, seed weight and unmarketable fruits. Hence, the application of kaolin at 3% at an interval of 30 days after first irrigation was found to be effective in increasing the yield and yield attributes of pomegranate and proved to be promising in fetching a better return for the farmers by enhancing the yield in pomegranate cv. Bhagwa Under Central Dry Zone of Karnataka.

Krithika C.K., Sridhar R., Shivakumar B.S., Kantharaj Y. and Ganapathi M. (2022). Effect of Preharvest Foliar Application of Bio-stimulants and Nutrients on improving Yield of Bhagwa Pomegranate under Central Dry Zone of Karnataka. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(4a): 56-61.