PHYSIOLOGICAL DESORDERS AND FRUIT YIELD OF MANGO CV. PALMER ASSOCIATED TO BORON NUTRITION: BORON FERTILIZING MANAGEMENT

ABSTRACT

The São Francisco Valley is the largest producer of mango under irrigated conditions. In the mango crop, beyond yield, boron is the micronutrient that most affects the fruit quality and this deficiency can cause physiological disorders. Accordingly, an experiment was carried out to evaluate the association of boron with incidence of physiological disorder in mango fruits cv. Palmer and his effect in the fruit yield. The treatments consisted on seven different fertilization managements: T1 = Two fertirrigations with 50 g plant ^-1 of H₃BO₃ (fertilizing of the grower); T2 = T1 + five sprays with H3BO3 [first two (0.3%) and others (0.2%)]; T3 = T1 + five sprays with H3BO3 [first two (0.3%) and others (0.4%)]; T4 = T1 + five sprays with H3BO3 [first two (0.3%) and others (0.6%)]; T5 = T1 + two sprays with H3BO3 (0.3%) + three fertirrigations (10 g plant ^-1 of H3BO3); T6 = T1 + two sprays with H₃BO₃ (0.3 %) + three fertirrigations (20 g plant ^-1 of H₃BO₃); T7 = T1 + two sprays with H3BO3 (0.3%) + three fertirrigations (40 g plant ^-1 of H₃BO₃). There is evidence that boron deficiency can cause the emission of fruits affected by physiological disorder and the management of boron fertilization is effective for reducing this problem and also influences mango fruit yield cv. Palmer, detaching that T2 reached an average yield of 35.62 t ha^-1, although more studies are needed to recommend a suitable crop management system.

Index terms
Mangifera indica L.; mango; fertilizing