Effect of biofertilizer and Jeevamrut on flowering, fruiting and yield of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.)

Present investigation was comprised of two factors and laid out in Randomized Block Design with factorial concept with three replications. The first factor was biofertilizer (b) with four levels i.e. b₁ (Control), b₂ (Azotobacter + PSB + KSB each @ 5 ml/plant), b₃ (Azotobacter + PSB + KSB each @ 10 ml/plant) and b₄ (Azotobacter + PSB + KSB each @ 15 ml/plant) and the second factor was jeevamrut with three levels i.e. j₁ (Control), j₂ (drenching of jeevamrut 0.5 litre/plant) and j₃ (drenching of jeevamrut 1.0 litre/plant). Thus, there were total 12 treatment combination under study. The distance between plant to plant and row to row was 2.5 m × 2.5 m. The results indicated that the drenching of biofertilizer b₄ (Azotobacter + PSB + KSB each @ 15 ml/plant) gave maximum fruit set (67.78%), fruit weight (226.91 g), number of fruits per plant (68.72), yield per plant (13.49 kg), yield per hectare (21.59 t/ha) and minimum fruit drop (12.56%). Result showed that the drenching of jeevamrut 1.0 litre/plant (j₃) gave maximum fruit set (65.83%), fruit weight (225.35 g), number of fruits per plant (68.79), yield per plant (13.43 kg), yield per hectare (21.49 t/ha) and minimum fruit drop (12.71%). However, biofertilizer and jeevamrut showed non-significant effect on days taken to flowering initiation and days taken from flowering to harvesting.