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The present study was conducted at Banana Research Station, Kannara, Kerala Agricultural University Thrissur, Kerala, India during 2017-2018. Evaluation was conducted by raising the crop under different manurial combinations. Banana yield and fruit quality characters were found to be influenced by the different treatments. Analysis was conducted for the biochemical constituents of mature and ripe Nendran banana fruits. Maximum starch (99.61 mg), protein (5.53 mg), crude fibre (3.95%) and tannin content (0.81 g) in mature fruits were obtained in Treatment-8 (FYM @ 29 kg, lime @ 0.5 kg and wood ash @ 4 kg plant-1 as basal dose+fertigation with extract of 14 kg FYM till one month after bunch emergence, once in four days+in situ green manuring). This treatment also recorded lowest titrable acidity (0.38%), highest β-carotene content (595.67 µg) in ripe banana fruits. Maximum TSS content (26.23 obrix) was obtained in Treatment-6 in which fertilizers applied as modified package of practices (POP) recommendation of KAU as per soil test). Maximum yield (160.88 kg plot-1) and fruit quality parameters; maximum total sugars (17.55%) and reducing sugars (11.38%), sugars/acid ratio (45.07) of ripe banana fruits were obtained in Treatment-3 where 15 kg FYM and 0.5 kg lime as basal+Poultry manure @ 14 kg plant-1+ash @ 4 kg plant-1 applied in two splits i.e. one as basal and one 3 MAP+in situ green manuring practised. It was evident from the study that application of organic manures improved fruit quality characters in Nendran banana.

Experiment on evaluation of mango genotypes under high density planting system was conducted in six mango varieties of the same age group (5 years). The observation on tree characters indicated that the trunk circumference ranged from 20.51 cm (Prior) to 31.29 cm (Chandrakaran) and crown diameter ranged from 2.39 m (Ratna) to 3.09 m (Vellaikolumban). The qualitative data on morphological characters viz., tree, leaf, inflorescence, fruit, stone and seed characters were grouped into clusters based on the IPGRI descriptor. The observation on leaf characters revealed that the leaf blade length varied from 19.17 cm (Muvandan) to 25.40 cm (Ratna), leaf blade width ranged from 4.84 cm (Muvandan) to 7.68 cm (Vellaikolumban) and leaf petiole length varied from 2.29 cm (Chandrakaran) to 4.18 cm (Vellaikolumban). Based on the inflorescence characters studied, it was found that inflorescence length varied from 22.14 cm (Prior) to 36.47 cm (Vellaikolumban), hermaphrodite flowers ranged from 33.40% (Muvandan) to 85.80% (Chandrakaran) and number of stamens varied from 3 to 4. The observation on fruit characters revealed that the fruit length varied from 7.49 cm (Chandrakaran) to 18.71 cm (Mallika), fruit diameter ranged from 13.18 cm (Chandrakaran) to 25.25 cm (Mallika), fruit weight ranged from 8.93 g (Muvandan) to 24.69 g (Mallika), yield per tree ranged from 8.93 kg/tree (Muvandan) to 24.69 kg/tree (Mallika), and shelf life of fruits varied from 4 to 6 days. The observations on stone and seed characters revealed that Chandrakaran recorded the lowest stone length (5.58 cm), stone width (3.36 cm), stone thickness (1.23 cm), stone weight (17.79 g) and seed length (4.05 cm). The lowest seed width and seed weight was recorded by Prior (3.07cm) and Vellaikolumban (9.44 cm). The highest stone length was recorded by Mallika (11.67 cm), stone width by Ratna (8.67 cm), stone thickness by Vellaikolumban (2.19 cm), stone weight by Mallika (44.33 g), seed weight by Prior (22.22 g) and seed length and width by Ratna (7.91 cm and 8.47 cm respectively). From the fruit analysis conducted for assessing the quality attributes of different mango genotypes grown under high density planting system TSS ranged from 14.78 o Brix (Muvandan), acidity varied from 0.02% (Mallika) to 0.07% (Muvandan), ascorbic acid varied from 28.26 mg 100g -1 (Vellaikolumban) to 79.68 mg 100g -1 (Chandrakaran), carotenoids ranged from 1.40 mg 100g -1 (Vellaikolumban) to 4.80 mg 100 g -1 (Ratna), and ß carotene ranged from 13.54 mg 100g -1 (Vellaikolumban) to 39.93 mg 100g -1 (Ratna). The results on sensory indicated that Ratna variety of mango as the best one as it recorded the highest rank for colour, flavour, sweetness, texture and taste, as Mallika recorded the highest rank only for appearance. Wide variability was observed for the vegetative, floral, fruit and biochemical characters among the mango genotypes.

Background: Chlorophyll is a green molecule found in plant cells that aids photosynthesis. It absorbs sunlight and converts the energy into carbohydrates using CO2 and water as a starting point. Chlorophyll ‘a’ and chlorophyll ‘b’ are the two forms of chlorophyll found in plants and each serves as a photoreceptor in photosynthesis, assuming higher electron transport, thus improving photochemical capacity. Methods: The present study was conducted at Banana Research Station, Kannara, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala during 2017-2018 to elucidate the response of banana Musa (AAB) ‘Nendran’ in terms of growth, yield and quality to nutrient sources.Variation in leaf parameters, phyllochron and chlorophyll content in leaf tissue of banana raised with different nutrient sources was analysed. The amount of chlorophyll present in the leaves, is an indication of photosynthetic efficiency. Result: Highest Leaf Area Index (2.34) were recorded in T4 (integrated use of organic manures with biofertilzers practised). Highest amount of chlorophyll ‘a’ (1.20 mg), chlorophyll ‘b’ (1.62 mg), total chlorophyll (2.82 mg) and lowest phyllochron (7.33) were obtained in T8 (Fertigation with organic sources FYM @29 kg, lime @0.5 kg and wood ash @4 kg as basal; fertigation once in four days with 14 kg FYM till one month after bunch emergence+ in situ green manuring) which was followed T3 (POP recommendation of KAU with organic manures FYM @15kg + lime @0.5 kg as basal + Poultry manure @ 14 kg/plant + Wood ash @4kg/plant applied in two splits i.e. one as basal and one 3 MAP + in situ green manuring) at 150 days after planting. The results indicated that the manuring Nendran banana with organic manures had advantage over chemical fertilizers in term of chlorophyll production and increase in photosynthetic efficiency.