~ 1730 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2019; 7(3): 1730-1732 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 IJCS 2019; 7(3): 1730-1732 © 2019 IJCS Received: 13-03-2019 Accepted: 15-04-2019 Pushpa Kumari Department of Horticulture (Fruit & Fruit Technology), Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India M Feza Ahmad Department of Horticulture (Fruit & Fruit Technology), Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India Manoj Kundu Department of Horticulture (Fruit & Fruit Technology), Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India AK Jha Department of Food Science and Postharvest Technology, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India Rajiv Rakshit Department of Soil Science & Agricultural, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India Correspondence Pushpa Kumari Department of Horticulture (Fruit & Fruit Technology), Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India Fertilizer requirement of papaya ( Carica papaya L.) for commercial cultivation under Bihar condition Pushpa Kumari, M Feza Ahmad, Manoj Kundu, AK Jha and Rajiv Rakshit Abstract An experiment entitled “Fertilizer requirement of papaya (Carica papaya l.) for commercial cultivation under Bihar condition” was conducted during the year 2016-17 at Horticulture garden, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur (Bihar). The experiment contains twenty seven treatment with three replication under Randomised Block Design (RBD factorial). Treatment includes three levels of each calcium nitrate, neem coated urea (both @ of 0, 100 & 200 g/plant) and muriate of potash (0, 200 & 400 g/plant) were applied in four equal split starting at 2 month of planting. The results showed that, number of flowers and fruits/plant ranged from 19.19 – 20.89 and 14.97 – 18.14 respectively, fruit weight from 0.889 – 0.927 kg among different fertilizer application, the TSS content ranged from 7.76 – 8.80 °Brix and acidity content from 0.33 – 0.36%. Neem coated urea showed best result in increasing the no. of flowers and fruit weight than calcium nitrate. Application of higher dose (400 g/plant) of muriate of potash results best in increasing quality of papaya fruits. Keywords: Papaya, fertilizer, potash, nitrogen, quality Introduction Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is widely grown fruit crops of tropical and subtropical region, originated in tropical America. These are grown as backyard as well as at commercial level due to early bearing and dwarfing nature. It belongs to family Caricaceae with chromosome numbers 2n =2X =18. They grow well under temperature range of 21 to 33 °C with well distributed rainfall of 110-120 cm during entire growth period. Growth and yield of papaya mainly influenced by various environmental factors like light, temperature, rainfall, nutrient status of soil and other soil properties (Compostrini and Glen, 2007) [3] . Nowadays, papaya cv. Red Lady has gained maximum popularity due to gynodioecious nature and its easy cultivation, quick return with good yield and quality fruits. It starts bearing fruit at a height of 75-85 cm with 20-25 numbers of fruit per plants in each fruiting season. Fruits are rich source of vitamin A content along with several other nutritive quality. There are shallow root system in papaya that needs proper maintenance of nutrient and water uptake in plant efficiently. Proper cultural practices encourage root growth in the surface (25- 30 cm) and thick root in 30-60 cm, depth (Reddy and Dinesh, 2013) [8] . Nutrient management is one of the most important cultivation practices for enhancing per unit fruit yield of papaya. Productivity has adversely affected if plant does not get optimum fertilizer doses. Over or insufficient fertilizer application reduces the yield potential of plant along with deteriorating soil fertility. Therefore, in this paper effects of nitrogenous and potash fertilizer on reproductive and quality parameters of papaya cv. Red Lady are studies. Materials and Methods An experiment entitled “Fertilizer requirement of papaya (Carica papaya L.) for commercial cultivation under Bihar condition” was conducted during the year 2016-17 at Horticulture garden, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur (Bihar). The experiment consist of twenty seven treatment with three replication under factorial Randomised Block Design (RBD). Uniform basal doses of phosphorus @ 100 g per plant are given. Treatment consist with three levels of nitrogen (0g, 100g & 200g/plant) and potash (0, 200 & 400 g/plant) alone and in combinations to each other in 4 equal splits (July, September, February and March).