Agricultural and Biological Research

Analysis of physicochemical properties, available nutrients of soil and their correlation with incidence of telya disease of pomegranate at northern Nasik, Maharashtra

Avinash Marwal*, Khushboo Jain, Kanika Sharma and Neetin Desai

Maharashtra government reported 10,000 Core production loss of Pomegranate every year, due to incidence of Telya disease. The present study was aimed to analyze physical properties, chemical properties, available micronutrients and macronutrients in soil of pomegranate orchards infected with Telya disease at Nasik, Maharashtra. Estimation of incidence and severity of disease was done on fifty selected orchards from different villages that were Mangitungi, Daswel, Dasane, Mulher and Sompur. Results revealed that minimum incidence (58.66%) and severity (59.89%) was recorded in Sompur village whereas maximum incidence (74.40%) and severity (68.70%) was recorded in Daswel and Mangitungi village respectively. pH (7.5-7.9) and free lime concentration (7.4-9.4%) was exceptionally very high for all test and control villages. Deficiency of essential macronutrients N (<150- 250 Kg/ha) and K (<125-200 Kg/ha) was recorded in all test samples along with additional deficiency of Zn micronutrient (<1.0-2.0 ppm). In case of mock orchards all the parameters were in accordance with reference values. Statistical analysis of data declared that there was significant difference among parameters of tested groups (P>0.05) while for control fields there were no significant differences (P<0.05). Further, positive correlation between macromicronutrients (Na, Ca, N, P, K, Mn) and incidence of disease was recorded which concludes that imbalance in nutrients promotes growth of pathogen and increases susceptibility of plants towards pathogenic attack. Further, balancing of nutrients through fertilizers or foliar spray could be an effective strategy of integrated pest management system.