Potassium nitrate or urea can substitute for putrescine in improving fruit set in mango (Mangifera indica L. cv. Carabao)
2002
Boniel, S.G. | Protacio, C.M. (Philippines Univ. Los Banos, College, Laguna (Philippines). Dept. of Horticulture)
To increase yield, the number of fruits developing from flowers (fruit set) should be increased. In `Carabao' mango, only 0.4-0.5% of the original number of flowers develops into young fruits. This is further reduced by fruit drop. If an additional fruit per panicle (a flowering stem) can be harvested, this could possibly mean a 100% increase in production. Polyamines have been reported earlier to improve fruit set not only in mangoes but also in other fruits. Polyamines are a group of compounds made by the plants; they are needed in cell division, which is necessary for a fruitlet to develop into a fruit. In 2 trials, spraying a polyamine called putrescine at full bloom stage increased fruit set by at least 2 fruitlets per panicle compared with unsprayed ones. However, the high cost of polyamine make it impractical to use in commercial farms to improve fruit set. There are, however, cheap precursor of polyamine which could possibly work as well as polyamines. Two of the precursors, which are the chemicals from which polyamine are biosynthesized, are nitrate from potassium nitrate and ammonium ions from urea. Potassium nitrate sprayed at 2% increased fruit set by at least 1-2 mango fruitlets over the unsprayed panicles. When 2% ordinary urea was used, there was no increase in fruit set, but with the use of a special formulation called low-biuret urea at 2% also, fruit set increased by at least 2 fruitlets. The promotive effect of urea may be due to its contribution in increasing polyamine levels
Afficher plus [+] Moins [-]Mots clés AGROVOC
Informations bibliographiques
Cette notice bibliographique a été fournie par University of the Philippines at Los Baños
Découvrez la collection de ce fournisseur de données dans AGRIS