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The present investigation was carried out at Thirumaraiyur village, Sattankulamtaluk, Thoothukudi district, to study the effect of organic amendments with the recommended dose of fertilizers on the growth and yield of watermelon in Ther isoil (red sand dunes) during the year 2017 and 2018. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with Factorial concept (FRBD). There were three factors as organic amendments with 6 treatment combinations for each factor, which were assigned at random in each plot with three replications. The recommended dose of fertilizers in treatments was two levels 75 and 100 percent. Among the treatment combinations, the tank silt application @ 100 t ha-1 with 100 per cent recommended fertilizer as 200:100:100 kg of NPK ha-1 through Fertigation at 7 days interval (A1N5) produced the maximum number of branches (10.67), longest vine (362.0 cm), number of fruits plant-1 (2.57), the weight of fruit (5.27 kg), fruit yield (68.77 t ha-1), total soluble solid (TSS) 10.94%), ascorbic acid (8.08 (mg 100g-1), gross return (4,09,320/ha), B:C ratio (2.45), uptake of NPK 41.51, 3.93 and 31.94 kg ha-1, respectively) compared to other treatments. Significant built-up of organic carbon (0.52%), available N (253.47 kg ha-1), P (16.40 kg ha-1) and K (218.40 kg ha-1) were registered with the application of tank silt application @ 100 t ha-1 with 100 per cent recommended fertilizer as 200:100:100 kg of NPK ha-1 through Fertigation at 7 days interval (A1N5). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the response of banana to boron (B) fertilization, two field experiments (main and a confirmatory trial) were conducted during 2018 and 2019 seasons in B deficient soils (Typic Rhodustalf) of Theni district, Tamil Nadu, India. The treatments consisted of soil and foliar application of boron replicated thrice in a randomized block design using banana cv. Nendran as the test crop. The results of field experiments revealed that banana plants responded well to soil and foliar application of B compared to control (recommended NPK alone). Among the treatments, soil application of 10 g borax plant−1 each at 3rd, 5th and 7th month after planting (MAP) in combination with recommended NPK in B deficient soils increased the availability of B in soil, its uptake by plants and also B fractions in soils than the rest of the treatments which ultimately resulted in an increase in pseudostem height, pseudostem girth, leaf area index, chlorophyll, and dry matter production. Similarly, soil application of boron enhanced finger length, finger girth, individual finger weight, and bunch weight of banana and the cumulative effect of these yield attributes favorably increased the fruit yield of banana (33.85 t/ha), which was 25% higher than control. Banana fruit quality traits, namely, total soluble solids, total sugar, ascorbic acid, and starch content, were also favorably influenced by B application. Thus, the results clearly indicated that soil applied B recorded comparatively higher banana yield than foliar application and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]