Effect of Different Fertilizer Formulations on Growth of Pineapple (Ananas comosus) and Soil Nutrients

In Sri Lanka, there is a big gap between the total pineapple production and the total export demand of pineapple. Most of the growers tend to use new fertilizer formulations in the market in search of increasing the productivity. Multi-nutrient Compound Fertilizer Package (MCFP) with balanced nutrient supply including micronutrients is considered as a viable option to enhance the productivity. This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of MCFP, on early growth of pineapple in Red Yellow Podzolic soil with soft laterite. The early growth of Mauritius variety was tested at field level with five treatments. T1 (control), T2 (Fertilizer recommended by Department of Agriculture (DOA)), T3 (Farmer practiced fertilizer; 70% straight fertilizer recommended by DOA + 30% MCFP), T4 (MCFP), T5 (organic fertilizer). The experiment was designed in a Randomized Complete Block Design. Plant growth parameters including plant height, number of leaves and Leaf Area Index (LAI) were recorded. Soil properties were determined at the beginning and two months after application of treatments. T4 has given the highest plant height (61.13 cm) and T3 has been recorded the highest LAI (0.745) and number of leaves (33.2). There was no significant difference among treatments for soil chemical parameters. However, there was a considerable increment in Phosphorus content (1.59 ppm) and Electrical Conductivity (77.53 μS/cm) in soil compared to the initial soil status in T4 treated soil. The results revealed that the MCFP has shown an improving trend in initial plant growth performance of pineapple. It can be concluded that MCFP used in T3 and T4 can effectively be used in enhancing growth of pineapple cost effectively.

Keywords: Fertilizer; Micronutrients; Pineapple; Plant nutrients; Productivity