FRUIT YIELD AND QUALITY OF PEACH (Prunus persica Batsch.) AS INFLUENCED BY DIFFERENTIAL APPLICATION OF ZINC A. S. Sidhu, B. S. Sidhu and J. S. Brar PAU, Regional Research Station, Bathinda Punjab E-mail: ajaibssidhu@gmail.com ABSTRACT: The data revealed that fruit yield of peach increased with increasing application of zinc sulphate. The maximum fruit size ( 5.0 cm length and 4.9 cm breadth), fruit weight (89.00g), fruit yield per plant (58.25 kg) and yield per unit area (64.07 q/hectare) were observed with 800 g ZnSO 4 per plant as soil application followed by foliar spray (0.5%) whereas minimum yield was obtained without zinc application. Zinc application also improved total soluble solids (TSS) and TSS: acid ratio. However, acidity of fruits obtained from treated and untreated plants was not differ significantly but the highest acid content was observed in control plants, whereas lowest was in foliar application of 0.50 % ZnSO 4 . Fruits were also more palatable in Zinc applied plants. The highest concentration of zinc (11.55 ppm) in leaves was observed at higher doses of soil zinc application and was in lowest in control plants. Keywords: Peach, yield, quality, zinc concentration. Peach (Prunus persica) is one of the important temperate fruit grown in Punjab. This fruit crop is popular due to rich source of vitamin-A, iron and proteins. Peach is generally consumed as fresh as well as in the form of squash in the North Indian Plains. Its kernel oil is utilized in the manufacturing of cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. Gangwar et al. (6) surveyed the economy of peach cultivation in North Indian Plains and revealed that investment in peach orchards has been found a profitable business. The internal rate of return (IRR) has been found to vary from 20.98 per cent to 23.80 per cent, depending on the size of peach orchards. Cultivation of stone fruits especially peach, plums and apricot has become popular in the subtropical climates of the North Indian Plains during past few years. The cultivation of this crop in Punjab has been expanded to many folds and occupies an area of about 1476 hectare producing about 25236 tones of fruit annually (Anonymous, 2). Few studies on peach nutrition in Punjab have been conducted and these were limited to N, P, and K application. Foliar fertilization is effective method for the application of micronutrients like zinc to established fruit trees. One of the most critical periods when a zinc shortage may seriously impair tree performance is between bud break and fruit set. A zinc shortage at this time often results in poor growth of the leaves and new shoots, as well as abnormal development of pollen tubes, ultimately resulting in poor seed set in fruit crops. Later in the season, the effects of limited zinc are small fruit, poor yield and quality of fruits. Zinc is not readily mobile within the tree and applications must be thorough and timely for optimal response. Various methods of applying zinc are available; the most common being sprays of zinc sulphate and soil applications of zinc sulphate. The present investigations were conducted to observe the effect of different doses of soil and foliar applied Zn on fruit yield and quality of peach fruits. MA TERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was carried out to find out the effect of zinc fertilization on the yield and fruit quality of peach at Punjab Agricultural University, Regional Station Bathinda in the year of 2011. The soil of the experimental field was calcareous, non saline and alkaline nature having pH 8.70 and electrical conductivity 0.21 ds m -1 . The soil was low in organic carbon (0.21 per cent), medium in available phosphorus (18 kg ha -1 ) and was high in available K (495 kg ha -1 ). The content of DTPA extractable Zn was 0.78 mg kg -1 . The experiment HortFlora Research Spectrum, 1(3): 231-234 (2012) ISSN : 2250-2823 Received : 16.5.2012 Accepted : 01.6.2012