N Save Nature to Survive 11(1): 1299-1301, 2016 (Supplement on Agronomy) www.thebioscan.com 1299 EFFECT OF FOLIAR APPLIC EFFECT OF FOLIAR APPLIC EFFECT OF FOLIAR APPLIC EFFECT OF FOLIAR APPLIC EFFECT OF FOLIAR APPLICATION OF B TION OF B TION OF B TION OF B TION OF BORON AND ZINC ON ORON AND ZINC ON ORON AND ZINC ON ORON AND ZINC ON ORON AND ZINC ON GROWTH AND FRUIT QU GROWTH AND FRUIT QU GROWTH AND FRUIT QU GROWTH AND FRUIT QU GROWTH AND FRUIT QUALITY P ALITY P ALITY P ALITY P ALITY PARAMETERS OF TOMA ARAMETERS OF TOMA ARAMETERS OF TOMA ARAMETERS OF TOMA ARAMETERS OF TOMATO TO TO TO TO ( SOLANUM L SOLANUM L SOLANUM L SOLANUM L SOLANUM L Y Y Y COPERSICON COPERSICON COPERSICON COPERSICON COPERSICON L.) CV .) CV .) CV .) CV .) CV. SHALIMAR 1 UNDER . SHALIMAR 1 UNDER . SHALIMAR 1 UNDER . SHALIMAR 1 UNDER . SHALIMAR 1 UNDER TEMPERA TEMPERA TEMPERA TEMPERA TEMPERATE CONDITIONS IN K TE CONDITIONS IN K TE CONDITIONS IN K TE CONDITIONS IN K TE CONDITIONS IN KASHMIR V ASHMIR V ASHMIR V ASHMIR V ASHMIR VALLEY ALLEY ALLEY ALLEY ALLEY NIGHAT MUSHTAQ*, FAHEEMA MUSHTAQ, FARAHANAZ RASOOL, REHANA JAN, S. BERJIS, MUBARAK. A. GANAIE AND RAFIYA MUSHTAQ Sher-e Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar, Jammu and Kashmir - 190 025, INDIA e-mail: nighatmushtaq2@gmail.com INTRODUCTION Tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L; 2n=2x=24), is an impor- tant vegetable crop grown throughout the world. Tomato en- joys a significant position based on nutritional point of view and is also a rich source of antioxidant lycopene, which is believed to reduce the risk of prostate cancer (Fadupin et al., 2012). It is one of the paramount fruit vegetables grown throughout the world. India is the fourth largest tomato pro- ducer in the world after China, USA and Turkey (Sunil and Kartikeya , 2013). In India, tomato is well adapted to all re- gions and occupies an area of about 9.20 lac ha with an annual production of 168.26 lac MT. In Jammu and Kashmir, it is grown over an area of 6.3 thousand hectares with an annual production of 139.58 thousand tonnes (Anonymous, 2013b).With the rapid increase in population, the demand of tomato has significantly increased, but the production and productivity has remained low both at national as well as state level in comparison to developed countries. Low production and productivity of tomato can be attributed to number of factors. One of the major factors being depletion of micronu- trients in the soil (Nadim et al., 2012).The growth of the plant is restrained due to deficiency of micronutrients, as a result of which the plant becomes susceptible to diseases, thereby causing a deleterious effect on its yield (Das, 2008). Micronu- trients, particularly boron and zinc, are very much essential for growth, development and reproduction of plants. These micronutrients are required by plants in very small quantities, yet they are very effective in regulating plant growth, develop- ment and reproduction, due to enzymatic action (Singh and Prakash, 2013). In Kashmir, the soils are deficient in boron and zinc (Shaista, 2015 ). Hence application of proper doses of boron and zinc can lead to the improvement in quality and production of this crop. With regard to the work conducted on effect of boron and zinc on growth, quality and relative economics of tomato, little efforts have been made in India and abroad while, in Kashmir till date no such work has been done.Hence, collecting usable data on spraying of micro nu- trients is necessary to the modernized agriculture. Keeping in view of above facts, the present study was undertaken to find out suitable combinations of boron and zinc through foliar feeding towards growth and quality in tomato under Kashmir conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS An experiment was conducted at Experimental Field of Division of Vegetable Science, SKUAST- Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar (J&K) under temperate conditions wherein nine treatments viz., T 1 (zinc @ 50 ppm), T 2 (zinc @ 100 ppm), T 3 (boron @ 50 ppm), T 4 (boron @ 50 ppm + zinc @ 50 ppm), T 5 (boron @ 50 ppm + zinc @ 100 ppm), T 6 (boron @ 100 ppm ), T 7 (boron @ 100 ppm + zinc @ 50 ppm), T 8 (boron @ ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted using nine different foliar micronutrient applicatons on Tomato cv. Shalimar 1 under temperate conditions in Kashmir valley. Among all the treatments ,T 8 (boron @ 100 ppm + zinc @ 100 ppm) recorded maximum plant height (55.06cm), fruit length (5.14 cm), fruit width (5.26 cm), average fruit weight (20.90 g), TSS (5.72 0 B), lycopene (15.72 mg/100g) and dry matter (6.07 g/100g). Plant spread and fruit firmness showed best results in treatment,T 6 (boron @ 100 ppm). The experiment revealed that applications of treatment, T 8 (boron @ 100 ppm + zinc @ 100 ppm) showed significantly better response with respect to growth, yield and quality attributes. However , treatment T 6 (boron @ 100 ppm ) had beneficial effect on increasing the plant spread as well as shelf life of tomato fruit. KEYWORDS Boron Growth Quality Zinc Received on : 09.01.2016 Accepted on : 26.03.2016 *Corresponding author