2.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The research pertaining to foliar fertilization date back to late 1940‟s and early 1950‟s. In
the early 1980‟s, studies on foliar application of fertilizers was investigated for selected crops,
including cereals. However, early research was typically limited to micronutrients in high-value
horticultural crops (Fageria et al. 2009). Foliar application has shown some efficacy for
macronutrients (Wittmer and Bukovac 1969).

During the last decade, there was a steady trend to reduce the use of mineral fertilizers,
specially soil applied such as nutrients - nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K)
(Haytova 2013). This fact creates a precondition to increase the importance of foliar fertilization
as an alternative to meet plant nutrient demand during the growing season. The interest on foliar
fertilization has risen as a result of the many advantages of the methods of application of foliar
nutrients, such as rapid and effective response to plant needs, regardless of soil conditions (Kerin
and Berova 2003). Additional foliar application during the growth and development of crops can
improve their nutrient balance, which lead to an increase in yield and quality (Kolota and
Osinska 2001).

According to Fageria et al. (2009), the interest in foliar sprays increased because of the
development of high concentration soluble fertilizers and development of machinery for spraying
fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides and overhead irrigation which further facilitated the
application of nutrients to crops in the form of sprays. Kannan (2010) noted that foliar
fertilization cannot substitute soil fertilization in all cases, but it can supplement soil application
and can be used in sustainable crop production. Advances in agriculture include reducing the
cost of crop production, maintaining soil quality, potential increase of agro ecosystems, human,
and animal health. Use of nutrients in adequate amounts and its methods of application
associated with these objectives.

Foliar fertilization has several advantages. It can be applied throughout the growing
season, which enables to spray with small quantity and composition of the nutrient solution,
appropriate to the specific requirements in different phases of the crop development. Foliar
application may sometimes facilitate the rapid absorption of mineral elements and avoiding the

1
occurrence of soil interactions. In these nutrients, they cannot be immobilized remain unavailable
for root uptake. Capability of root system for better absorption of nutrients from the soil solution
is stimulated (Kerin and Berova 2003). Nutrient uptake via the foliage may be much faster as
compared to soil nutrition (Lester et al. 2007; Fernandez and Eichert 2009; Kannan 2010).

Despite all advantages of foliar application of fertilizers, there is a possibility of damage

to the leaves and even more serious damage to plants when not all requirements for solutions of
foliar spraying are applied (Fageria et al. 2009; Kannan 2010). Due to this fact it is necessary to
standardize the dosage of foliar fertilization prior to the general recommendation to the farmers.

With this back ground, the present investigation was carried out to optimize the rate and
frequency of foliar fertilization for cultivation of pea and tomato crops. The literature available
with respect to the effect of foliar applied fertilizers at different spray schedules on various
parameters of tomato-pea sequence is lacking.

The relevant literature associated with the research problem entitled “Evaluation and
standardization of water soluble fertilizers as foliar spray for tomato-pea sequence under mid-hill
sub-humid zone of Himachal Pradesh” has been reviewed under following heads:

2.1 Effect of foliar fertilization on growth and yield

2.2 Effect of foliar fertilization on produce quality

2.3 Effect of foliar fertilization on nutrient uptake

2.4 Effect of foliar fertilization on net returns and benefit cost ratio

2.5 Effect of foliar fertilization on soil properties

2.1 Effect of foliar fertilization on growth and yield

Das and Jana (2015) studied the response of water soluble fertilizer spray on growth and
yield of greengram, blackgram, lathyrus, lentil and chickpea in field experiments conducted at
Pulses and Oilseeds Research Station, West Bengal. The seven levels of foliar spray of water
soluble fertilizers at pre flowering stage [no spray, 0.5% NPK (19:19:19), 1% NPK (19:19:19),
2% NPK (19:19:19), 3% NPK (19:19:19), 2% DAP, 2% Urea] were evaluated under basal and
no basal dose of fertilizers. The application of 2% urea spray recorded significantly higher seed
yield of pulses over basal dose of fertilizer. Without basal fertilizer application, 3% NPK

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(19:19:19) spray recorded highest seed yield. Under basal dose of fertilizer application, the
results showed a gradual increase in yield with the increase in concentration of NPK (19:19:19)
fertilizer spray up to 2%.

Milev (2014) carried out a field trial at Dobrudzha Agricultural Institute (Bulgaria) to
study the effect of foliar fertilization with liquid fertilizers on fodder pea. The liquid fertilizer
Potassium thiosulphate (containing K and S) and High-phos (containing P, K and Mg) were
sprayed @ 5 l ha-1. Based on the resultsobtained, it was found out that the parameters of
nodulation (number, dry weight and life cycle) improved significantly with foliar feeding and
value of the changes depending on the applied foliar fertilizers was highest for the index number
of nodules per plant (up to 17.1 %), followed by dry weight of the nodules (up to 15.8 %). The
increase of grain yield was highest after foliar treatment with High-Phos – 8 %, followed by
Potassium thiosulphate – 5 %.

Rahman et al. (2014) carried out a field experiment to evaluate different nutrients
application on common bean at Hazara University, Pakistan. The experiment was comprised
of four treatments i.e. control (water spray), poultry manure, DAP (Di-ammonium
Phosphate) and foliar spray of (NPK 20:20:20). The results showed that foliar spray of NPK
fertilizer significantly increased number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, number
of seeds per plant, biomass and grain yield.

Ali et al.(2013) conducted a field experiment to evaluate the possible effect of some
macro and micro nutrients with different concentration levels as a foliar application on the
vegetative growth, flowering, and yield of tomato cv „Roma‟ in Pakistan. The results of the
study revealed that all the treatments i.e T 1 (control), T2 (nitrogen 5.5 g/100 mL), T 3 (Boron
5 g/mL), T4 (Zinc 5 g/mL) and T5 (nitrogen 5.5 g/100 mL + Boron 5 g/100mL + Zinc 5
g/mL) showed a positive effect on growth, flowering, and yield, however T 5 and T3
exhibited a significant influence on all parameters as compared to T 1 (control). They
concluded that foliar application was an appropriate way to feed the tomato crop to enhance
the growth, flowering and marketable yield.

Kumar (2013) conducted a field trial on foliar application of NPK on chilli variety
“Prakash (LCA 206)” at Andhra Pradesh with eleven treatment combinations using foliar
sprays of 19:19:19 NPK @ 2.5 g l -1, 5 g l-1, 7.5 g l -1and 10 g l -1 and KNO3 @ 5 g l-1 and

3
control. The results revealed that four foliar sprays of 19:19:19 NPK @ 7.5 g l -1 + KNO3 @ 5
g l-1 scheduled at monthly intervals starting one month after transplanting significantly
enhanced the fresh (9820 kg ha -1) and dry (3320 kg ha-1) pod yield and resulted in
significantly longer fruits (7.6 cm).

In a field experiment, conducted by Aliloo et al. (2012) under rain-fed conditions at

Maragheh (Iran), the foliar spraying of urea was evaluated for two chickpea cultivars (Azad and
ILC 482). The urea was applied as foliar spray of 2% and 4% at two stages (before and after
flowering) and as soil application of 20 kg ha-1. The interaction of urea application and cultivar
for days to maturity and pods per plant was significant. The highest plant height and seed yield
was obtained by application of 20 kg ha-1 urea in soil. However, difference among 20 kg urea
application, 2 % and 4 % urea spraying before flowering was not significant.

Beg and Ahmad (2012) conducted an experiment on mungbean at Azamgarh (India) to

study the effect of different concentration of potassium as foliar spray at the time of flowering on
mungbean. The foliar spray of potassium was performed at five levels (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0
kg K ha-1). The results revealed that foliar spray of 1 kg K ha-1 at the time of flowering showed
maximum enhancement of growth characters like height of the plant, length of petiole, length
and breadth of lamina, number of stomata per unit area, length and breadth of guard cell, length
and breadth of stomatal aperture and length of pod in mungbean. The yield attributes like number
of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and 1000 grain weight showed maximum increase
with application of 0.8 kg K ha-1 applied as foliar spray at the time of flowering.

A greenhouse experiment was carried out to determine the effect of foliar spraying of
Bio-organic fertilizers and urea on root and vegetative growth of mung bean (Vigna radiata L.)
at Urmia University,Iran (Khalilzadeh et al. 2012a). The 1.0% spray concentration of urea,
nitroxin, amino acid, Green hum, Biocrop L-45, Nutriman N24 and Mas Raiz was evaluated
against cattle manure, water spray and control. Results showed that foliar application of urea at
1% concentration recorded higher growth parameters like plant height (10.25cm), leaf area (9.84
cm2) and dry weight of shoot (1.24 g plant-1).

Mondal et al. (2012) investigated the effect of foliar application of urea on soybean in a
field experiment conducted at Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture, Bangladesh. The
results revealed that among four levels of urea spray (control, 1 spray of 1.5% urea, 2 sprays of

4
1.5% urea and 3 sprays of 1.5% urea), higher seed yield of soybean was recorded under foliar
feeding of urea than control. The maximum yield were recorded for 3 sprays of 1.5% urea due to
superiority in physiological characters (leaf area index, total dry mass per plant, absolute growth
rate, chlorophyll and harvest index) and yield attributes (number of pods per plant, number of
seeds per pod and 100-seed weight) over other treatments.

Venkatesh et al. (2012) carried out a field trial to study the effect of foliar application of
nitrogenous fertilizers on chickpea under rain-fed conditions at Indian Institute of Pulses
Research, Kanpur. Six treatments viz., i) control; ii) water spray; iii) urea (2%) spray at 75 DAS
(days after sowing); iv) DAP (2%) spray at 75 DAS; v) urea spray at 105 DAS and vi) DAP
spray at 105 DAS were evaluated and the results revealed that the highest pods per plant (45.3)
were recorded in 2% urea spray at 75 DAS which was 23.7 and 21.3 per cent higher than control
and water spray, respectively. The highest seed yield of 2437 kg ha-1 was recorded with 2% urea
spray at 75 DAS followed by 2% DAP spray at 75 DAS (2389 kg ha-1).

In a field experiment, conducted by Mondal et al. (2011) at Bangladesh Institute of

Nuclear Agriculture (Bangladesh), the effect of foliar application of nitrogen and micronutrients
on mungbean were investigated. Nitrogen in the form of urea (1.5%) was sprayed on the canopy
of pot grown plants alone and with micronutrients (0.1% of B, Mo, Zn, Ca and Fe) at
reproductive stage. Foliar application of N or N plus micronutrients increased leaf area, specific
leaf weight, chlorophyll content, total dry mass, flower number and reproductive efficiency,
yield attributes and yield over the control. This increment appeared to be the highest in N plus
micronutrients treatment although did not differ from the foliar application of only N.

Narayan et al. (2011) carried out a field experiment at Indira Gandhi Krishi
Vishwavidyalaya (Raipur), to study the effect of foliar feeding of water soluble fertilizers
(WSF) in combination with soil applied fertilizers in tomato. The results of the experiments
revealed that among the different treatments, 87.5% recommended dose of NPK + f oliar
spray of water soluble fertilizers recorded the tallest plants, more number of primary and
secondary branches, flower clusters per plant, fruits per cluster, fruits per plant, fruit weight
and highest fruit yield per plant. The flowering and fruiting were delayed under foliar
feeding of water soluble fertilizers.

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 In a field experiment, conducted at Agricultural University of Plovdiv (Bulgaria),
Haytova (2012) investigated the effect of three complex foliar fertilizers (Fitona 3, Hortigrow
and Humustimin) in three concentrations and soil application of N16P16K16 on the vegetative
behaviors of zucchini squash. The results indicated that foliar fertilization with complex
fertilizers namely Humustim @ 0.3% and soil fertilization with mineral fertilizers, influenced the
vegetative behavior of plants and increased the fresh weight of vegetative plants as compared to
control.

Grigorita (2011) carried out a solar greenhouse study on tomato hybrid Cronos- F1 at
Oradea-Santandrei (Romania), to evaluate the effect of the foliar fertilizers on solar
greenhouse cultivated tomatoes production. The five foliar spays (Folplant 231, Folplant 411,
Polyfeed 19:19:19, Basfoliar 36 Extra, Ecofert 1 + Ecofert 2, T 7: MgSO4) applied at 1.0%
concentration were compared and the results revealed that foliar treatments observed
significant increase in the fruit production.

Experiments were conducted under solar greenhouse and field conditions in Romania
involving foliar spraying of Accele-GRO-M (0.1%), Accele-GRO-M (0.3%), Nutrivant Plus
Tomato (1%) and Fertel F (1%) as diluted solutions of 0.1-1.0% at 500 l ha -1 on tomato cv.
Izmir. The first treatment was applied 2 weeks after planting and the two others at weeding at
14 days interval. It was observed that spraying of foliar fertilizers to tomato during
vegetation period resulted in significant increases in pigment assimilation, fruit yield and
quality under both conditions compared with the untreated control (Anton et al. 2011).

Venkatesh and Basu (2011) investigated the effect of foliar application of urea on
chickpea in a field experiment conducted at Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur. Foliar
application of urea apart from the basal application of recommended dose of fertilizers increased
branching in chickpea by 8-23% over no spray or water spray. The highest grain yield and yield
attributes were recorded with 2% urea spray at 75 days after sowing (DAS).

Deore et al. (2010) investigated the effect of foliar application of novel organic liquid
fertilizer (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5%) on growth and yield in chilli (Capsicum annuumL.) in a pot
experiment at Pune. The study revealed that the consistent and significant results for growth
parameters due to novel organic liquid fertilizer were obtained. The application of 3% foliar

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spray resulted in maximum plant height, number of branches per plant, leaf number,
leaf area, fresh and dry weight of the plant, number of fruits per plant and total yield.

El-Bassiony et al. (2010) studied the effect of potassium fertilization on sweet

pepper in El-Nobaria region and the results revealed that the favourable effects of the
potassium on the growth, total yield and fruit parameters were obtained when sweet pepper
plants were fertilized with 200 kg per fed potassium sulfate plus foliar application of
potassium humate @ 4 g l -1 followed statistically by 200 kg per fed potassium sulfate with
foliar application of either 2 or 4 g l -1 potassium oxide with no significant difference between
them but both of them were significantly higher than control. Spraying sweet pepper plants
with potassium humate at rate of 4 g l -1 markedly increased vegetative growth, yield, fruit
quality and chemical composition.

Singh et al. (2010) conducted a field experiment on chilli in a sandy loam soil of
Bihar. The effect of soil applied nitrogen (100, 125 and 150 kg ha -1) and 40 and 60 kg ha -1 on
foliage alone and in combination with control were studied. The results indicated that
application of 60 kg N ha -1 in soil + 40 kg N ha -1 on foliage gave highest yield. The
application of nitrogen in combination (soil and foliar) proved to be significantly more
effective than its soil and foliar application alone.

In a field study conducted at Sindh Agriculture University (Pakistan), Abbasi et al.

(2010) evaluated the growth and yield response of okra to three newly introduced foliar fertilizer
products (Superdawn, Agri-power and Unigrow-C) either alone or integrated with soil applied
recommended nitrogen and phosphorus. The results endorsed the benefits of foliar fertilization of
crops by witnessing the improved growth traits of okra plants, viz. days to flowering, plant
height, number of branches plant-1, number of fruits plant-1 and fruit length, coupled with the
better crop yield of okra by the integration of all three foliar fertilizers with the recommended
soil applied chemical fertilizers.

Five rates of Organic-Plus as a foliar spray (0, 1200, 1400, 1600 and 1800 ml ha -1)
combined with of foliar spray of NPK (15:15:15) fertilizer @ 100 kg ha -1 were evaluated in a
field experiment at Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Nigeria. The results
suggested that a combination of 1600 ml ha -1 of Organic-Plus and 100 kg ha -1 of NPK
15:15:15 gave the best growth and yield of Chilli (Onyishi2010).

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 Verma et al. (2009) conducted a field experiment at C.S. Azad University of Agriculture
and Technology (Kanpur), to study the effect of foliar application of urea on the physiological
traits and productivity of rainfed chickpea. The three concentrations of urea (0.25, 0.5 and 1.0%)
as foliar spray were applied at 45 and 65 DAS in three chickpea genotypes (KDG-1168, Udai
and Awarodhi) under rainfed condition. At 50% flowering stage, nitrate reductase activity
(NRA), Relative Water Content (RWC) were found maximum in 1.0% urea spray. All the
genotypes significantly improved their NRA, RWC and chlorophyll content in leaf with increase
in urea concentration up to 1.0%. The number of branches per plant showed significant increase
only up to 0.5% urea spray whereas seed yield of all genotypes increased up to 1.0% urea spray.

Premsekhar and Rajashree (2009) conducted a field experiment to study the response of
foliar feeding of water soluble fertilizers at two intervals (3 and 5 sprays) in tomato hybrid
(COTH 2) at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The results revealed that foliar
application of 5 sprays of NPK (19:19:19) at 1.0% concentration, recorded the tallest plants,
highest fruit weight, fruits per plant, fruit yield and BC ratio.

Baloch et al. (2008) conducted a field trail on green chilies using five concentration of
foliar fertilizer HiGrow (4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 ml l-1 water) in addition to soil applied NPK fertilizers at
50:50:25 kg ha-1. The results showed that HiGrow spray @ 7 ml l-1 water was considered to be
an optimum concentration for commercial production of chilies with significantly better
agronomic traits (67.9 cm plant height, 6.6 branches per plant, 117.2 fruits per plant, 4.1 cm fruit
length, 391.3 g fresh chilies weight per plant and 14,562. 3 kg fresh chilies yield ha-1) as
compared with control plots traits(63.5 cm plant height, 4.2 branches per plant, 93.1 fruits per
plant, 2.9 cm fruit length, 388.3 g fresh chilies weight per plant and 10,525.0 kg fresh chilies
yield ha-1).

The investigation of Senthil and Kumaresan (2007) showed that the dry matter
production and NPK uptake by chilli crop was higher with the soil application of Agroblen
30 g m-2 plus foliar spray 2 g l -1 compared to all other treatment combinations including
control.

Dixit and Elamathi (2007) investigated the effect of foliar application of DAP,
micronutrients and NAA on green gram in a field experiment carried out at Allahabad
Agricultural Institute, Allahabad. The twelve treatments comprised of foliar application of DAP
2%, NAA 40 ppm, B 0.2%, Mo 0.05% and their combinations at 30 days after sowing (DAS).

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The results revealed that foliar application of DAP 2% + NAA 40 ppm + B 0.2% + Mo 0.05% at
30 DAS significantly increased the height and dry weight of plants, number of pods per plant,
grains per pod, test weight, grain yield and haulm yield over the control.

In a field experiment, Batra et al. (2006) studied the response of brinjal to foliar feeding
of water soluble fertilizers.Four water soluble fertilizer namely Multi-K, polyfeed 19:19:19,
15:15:30 and 17:10:27 were evaluated in brinjal. Foliar application of polyfeed (19:19:19)
thrice at 30, 40 and 50 days after transplanting registered the highest yield as compared to
unsprayed check. Multi-K spray thrice gave a comparable yield as that of polyfeed 19:19:19
spray.

In findings of a pot experiment, Hristozkova et al. (2006) reported that the among foliar
application two levels (0.3% and 0.5%) of Agroleaf (N:P:K equal to 20:20:20) the highest
nodule number and leaf soluble sugar content was observed for spraying with 0.3%
concentration of Agroleaf. It was found that foliar application of nutrients reduced the inhibitory
effect of Mo shortage on root nodulation, plant dry biomass and protein content.

Narayanamma et al. (2006) conducted a field experiment to study the influence of water
soluble fertilizers on yield of brinjal. The treatment included four different combinations of NPK
i.e. 13:0:45, 19:19:19, 15:15:30 and 17:10:27 with two types of spray schedules (3 times). It was
observed that the application of recommended dose of NPK + 5 sprays @ 0.5% of all water
soluble fertilizers gave significantly higher yields compared to control (RDF). Further,
application of 15:15:30 gave the highest brinjal fruit yield of 36.6 t ha-1. There was no significant
difference in yield between 3 and 5 sprays with all water soluble fertilizers.

Sundaram and Kanthaswamy (2005) conducted an experiment at PJN College of

Agriculture and Research Institute (Karaikal), to study the response of okra to foliar feedi ng
of water soluble fertilizers and reported that five sprays of 19:19:19 five had recorded the
maximum yield (298.83 g/plant) followed by five sprays of NPK 17:10:27 with a yield of
(265.04 g/plant). However, the number of fruits per plant was found to be the maximum
(14.33) in treatment which received five to eight sprays Multi-K followed by five sprays of
NPK 19:19:19 (13.60).

Nelson et al. (2005) studied the response to foliar-applied K at different growth stages in
soybean. The treatments included K as K2SO4 given as a pre-plant soil at 140, 280, and 560 kg

9
ha−1, or foliar supply @ 9, 18, and 36 kg ha−1 at V4, Rl-R2, and R3-R4 stages of development.
The results showed a significant increase in grain yield from 727 to 834 kg ha−1 when K spray
was given at 36 kg ha−1 at the V4 and R1-R2 stage, but when given at the R3-R4 stage, grain
yield increased but not as high as at V4 or R1-R2.

Singh and Mukherjee (2000) examined the effect of foliar application of urea and
naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) on yield and yield attributes of chilli in a field experiment carried
out at Rajasthan. The fruit yield and yield attributes of chilli were greatly influenced by the foliar
sprays of urea (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%). Increasing concentrations of urea significantly increased
percent fruit set, fruit weight, percent dry yield and yield ha-1 and decreased fruit drop
percentage. The maximum yield of 193.1 q ha-1 was obtained with 1.5% urea.

In the field experiments conducted at Bengaluru, Subrahmanyam and Raju (2000)

studied the effect of foliar feeding with 0.1 and 0.5% water soluble fertilizers [Multi-K, polyfeed
19:19:19 + micro elements (ME), PF 19:09:19 + 2MgO + ME and PF 17:10:27 + ME] on carrot,
aubergines and cabbage. On an average, Multi-K increased yield by 25.0, 24.8 and 25.9% in
brinjal, cabbage and carrot respectively. The highest and lowest additional yields were 12.5 and
0.5 t ha-1 respectively, with 1.0% Multi-K and PF 17:10:27 + ME, in cabbage and brinjal,
respectively. An increase in cabbage yield was observed when the spray concentration was
increased from 0.5 to 1.0% for both Multi-K and PF 19:19:19 + ME. Both carrot and cabbage
yields increased when the concentration of PF 19:09:19 + 2Mgo + ME was increased.

Palaniappan et al. (1999) carried out a field experiment in Andhra Pradesh to evaluate
the effect of foliar fertilization of Polyfeed and Multi-K on chilli and tomato. The result
revealed that the soil application of 100% NK + foliar spray of Polyfeed 3 times and Multi -K
twice, gave the highest number of chilli fruits per plant over other sprays. Increasing Poly
feed spray from 3 to 4 times do not increased the number of fruits per plant. Supply of
nutrients at all the critical stages in available form through speciality fertilizers had increased
fruit number significantly. Application of 100% NK + foliar spray of Polyfeed 3 times und
Multi-K twice gave the highest yield of 45.0 q ha-1 which was 15.1 percent higher than the
yield obtained (39.1 q ha -1) with the application of 100% NK alone. Tomato crop showed the
same response as that by chilli to different levels of fertilization.

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 Experiments conducted on brinjal variety R-34 (long type) in RCBD design involving
four level of nitrogen (25, 50, 75 and 100 kg ha -1) applied through soil and additional four
levels (1%, 1.5%, 2.0%, 2.5%) applied as foliar spray and compared against control.
Ammonium sulphate was used as a source of nitrogen. The results indicated that an increase
in the level of nitrogen through soil up to 75 kg ha -1 significantly increased the leaf area
(69.25 cm2), plant height (44 cm), number of branches (39) and yield of fruits (95.53 q ha -1)
in brinjal (Singh and Sandhu 1995).

Ramamurthy et al.(1993) reported that higher plant height (17.8 cm) in blackgram was
due to foliar application of 1% KCl twice at flowering and pod formation stages with basal N
and P application followed by 2% DAP + 1% KCl spray. Spraying of 1% KCl combined with
basal N and P application recoded higher yield attributes and grain yield followed by 1% K2SO4
spray with basal N and P application. Treatments with 1% KCl and 1% K2SO4 with basal N and
P application showed 46 and 44% increase in grain yield respectively.

Chaudhuri and De (1975) investigated the effect of three foliar sprays of nitrogen (40,
80, and 120 kg per ha) along with soil application of basal dose of fertilizers on the yield of
tomato under field experiment conducted at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New
Delhi. Foliar application as a part of the fertilizers was superior to soil application in
increasing the tomato yield, dry matter production and uptake of nutrients (N and P). Foliar
application of N and P was on an average of 2.02 and 1.63 times more efficient, respectively,
in increasing the tomato yield than corresponding soil application.

2.2 Effect of foliar fertilization on produce quality

Rao et al. (2015) carried out a field experiment at Regional Agricultural Research
Station, Guntur with an aim to find out effect of foliar nutrition on antioxidant enzymes,
photosynthetic rate, dry matter production and yield of mung bean. Under moisture stress
conditions, KNO3 @ 1% proved superior over other foliar sprays by recording more plant height,
leaf area, shoot dry weight, and photosynthetic rate by maintaining high leaf proline content and
peroxidase activity. Under irrigated conditions, urea @ 2% recorded higher yield. KNO3 @ 1%
gave higher yields under receding soil moisture condition compared to other foliar sprays.

Afzal et al. (2015) investigated the specific contribution of potassium to yield and quality
of two tomato cultivars (Nagina and Roma) in a field experiment conducted at Vegetable

11
Research Institute, Faisalabad (Pakistan). Foliar application with varying levels of potassium
solutions (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 and 1.0%) was applied to the plants and
compared with control (without K). Exogenous application of 0.6% K significantly improved
plant height, lycopene content, potassium, fruit weight and diameter. Exogenous application of
0.5, 0.6 and 0.7% K maximally improved ascorbic acid contents of both tomato cultivars
whereas 0.4 and 0.8% did not improve ascorbic acid contents.

Shafeek et al. (2013) investigated the response of broad bean plants to two levels of
compound foliar fertilizer Stimufol (100 and 200 g/fed.) with 3 levels of humic acid (0, 2 and 4
g/L as humate potassium). The foliar application of different concentrations of nutrient
compound (Stimufol) in conjuction with soil application significantly increased the percentage of
protein in broad bean seeds as compared to soil application. The highest percentage of protein
was recorded by foliar high level (200 g/fed.) of nutrient compound (Stimufol).

Gheorghita (2010) conducted a solar greenhouse study at Faculty of Horticulture

(Bucharest) to study the effect of foliar fertilization on growth and quality of tomato fruits.
The complex fertilizer formulation i.e. Agroleaf and Cropmax were used in four treatments
9control, Cropmax 0.15% + Agroleaf 0.5%, Agroleaf 0.5% and Cropmax 0.15%). The foliar
fertilization observed higher number of fruits and average fruit weight as compared to the
control. The largest production was recorded after applying the two products combined.
Also, the foliar fertilized variants obtained larger fruits with a higher level of vitamin C,
acidity and dry matter.

In a field experiment conducted at Coimbatore, Premsekhar and Rajashree (2009)

evaluated foliar feeding of water soluble fertilizers for tomato hybrid (COTH 2). The TSS
content of the harvested fruits did not show any significant difference among foliar treatments,
even though the treatment with foliar spray of NPK 19:19:19 recorded the highest TSS content
of 4.46° brix.

Trejo-Tellez et al. (2007) carried out a greenhouse experiment at Mexico to determine

three foliar fertilizers needed to correct common nutrient deficiencies of jalapeno pepper,
cucumber and bell pepper. The results showed that yield of the three crops were significantly
increased with foliar application. These results indicated that foliar fertilizer application is a
feasible alternative to increase yield and fruit quality, particularly in soils with specific
nutrient deficiencies.

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 A greenhouse experiment was carried out by Fanasca et al. (2006), to determine the effect
of cationic proportions (K, Ca, Mg) in the nutrient solution on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum
Mill.) cultivar (Lunarossa) and a standard cultivar (Corfu). In both cultivars, a high proportion of
K in the nutrient solution increased antioxidant concentration β-carotene and especially
lycopene) during the red and intense-red ripening stages, followed by Mg. The lowest values
were recorded for the Ca treatment.

Chaurasia et al. (2005) carried out a comparative study on soil fertilization and its
combination with foliar application of different water soluble fertilizers in tomato under field
conditions at Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi. The results revealed a significant
increase of the total soluble solids (TSS) in tomato fruits in response to the foliar application of
different water soluble fertilizers in comparison to soil application.

2.3 Effect of foliar fertilization on nutrient uptake

Early experiments on response to foliar application were reported in USA and England.
Barley, Brussels sprout, French bean, tomato, and sugar-beet plants grown in soil in pots and
sprayed with nutrient solutions containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and a spreader, had
higher nutrient content and dry weights than control plants sprayed with water and spreader only.
Increase in nutrient content occurred with high or low levels of nutrient supply to the roots and
was approximately proportional to the concentration of spray and to the frequency of spraying.
There was no difference in N uptake in sugar beet, from ammonium sulfate, calcium nitrate, or
urea in equivalent concentrations. Furthermore, nutrient uptake from solutions sprayed on leaves
influenced root uptake of nutrients (Thorne 1954).

Shafeek et al. (2013) reported that the application of foliar fertilizer Stimufol [N (25%), P
(16%), K (12%), Mg (0.2%)] at different concentrations significantly increased the content N, Fe
and Mn (mg/g dry weight) of broad bean seeds as compared to soil application. Among the foliar
treatments, Stimufol @ 200 g/fed recorded highest nitrogen as well as Fe and Mn content (mg/g
dry weight) in grains.

Devi and Shanthi (2013) conducted a field experiment at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
College of Agriculture and Research Institute (Puducherry), to study the effect of foliar spray
of water soluble fertilizer on chilli crop. The two frequencies of foliar spray (5 times and 7
times) with the four concentrations of water soluble fertilizer viz., 0.0% (control), 0.5%,

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1.0% and 2.0% were evaluated under two levels of basal dose of fertilizers (75% and 100%
RDF). The results demonstrated that among the 16 treatments, the combination of 100% RDF
+ 5 sprays of 1.0% water soluble fertilizer produced maximum plant height, number of
branches per plant, 50 per cent flowering and NPK uptake as compared to water spray and
other treatments.

Venkatesh and Basu (2011) investigated the effect of foliar application of urea on
chickpea in a field experiment conducted at Kanpur. Foliar application of urea apart from the
basal application of recommended dose of fertilizers increased branching in chickpea by 8-23%
over no spray or water spray. The results suggested that 2% foliar application of urea at 75 DAS
significantly increased leaf nitrogen and protein content of seeds.

Fawzy et al. (2010) carried out two field experiments at Giza Governorate, to
investigate the response of snap bean plants to foliar spray by dry yeast at a rate of (2 and 4 g
l-1), amino green compound at a rate of (2 and 4 cm l -1) and humic acid at a rate of (2 and 4 g
l-1) in snap bean plants. The results indicated that, highest values of leaf dry weight, pods
weight, total yield of snap bean and quality (ascorbic acid and TSS) were obtained by foliar
application of 4 g l -1 dry yeast. The highest content of N and P were recorded by foliar spray
of dry yeast at a rate of 4 g l -1. Meanwhile, the highest amount of K was given when humic
acid was sprayed at a rate of 4 g l -1.

Yadav et al. (2004) carried out a field trail to evaluate the foliar feeding of water soluble
fertilizers in tomato. Five sprays of 0.5 per cent NPK (15-15-30) at an interval of 10 days i.e. 30,
40, 50 and 60 and 70 days after transplanting gave significantly higher fruit yield (570.6 q ha-1)
of tomato over control (437.7 q ha-1) and at par with Multi-K three sprays, NPK 19-19-19 three
sprays and NPK 17-10-27 five sprays. Further, the uptake of N, P and K in plants as well as cost
benefit ratio was the maximum due to foliar application.

Ramesh and Thirumurugan (2001) conducted a field experiment at Agricultural

College and Research Institute (Madurai), to study the influence of seed pelleting and foliar
nutrition on the productivity and nutrient uptake of soybean. Foliar spray of benzyl adenine
25 ppm in association with DAP @ 2% and KCI @ 1% at 45 and 60 days after sowing
resulted in significantly enhanced the uptake of macro-nutrients.

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 Fritz (1978) pointed out that a repeated application of small units of foliar fertilizers
stimulates plant metabolism and an increased nutrient uptake via the roots can be observed. It
was concluded that the absorption of urea by the leaves of most crops is greater and faster
than that of inorganic nitrogen forms.

2.4 Effect of foliar fertilization on net returns and benefit cost ratio

Narayan et al. (2012) reported that among the different soil and foliar fertilization
treatments, 87.5% recommended dose of NPK + foliar spray of water-soluble fertilizers
recorded best as per economy with highest net return of, Rs.1,25,890.05 and highest
benefit:cost ratio of 2.73 for tomato crop in a research trial conducted in Raipur (India).

Chaurasia et al. (2005) carried out a comparative study on soil fertilization and its
combination with foliar application of different water soluble fertilizers on growth, yield, and
quality of tomato under field conditions. The results revealed maximum plant height, number of
branches/plant, fruit length, yield, net profit along with maximum C:B ratio were recorded by 5
foliar sprays of water soluble liquid fertilizers 19:09:19 followed by NPK 19:19:19.

Valavan et al. (2006) carried a field experiment at Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), to compare
the relative efficiency of control release fertilizer (CRF) and water soluble fertilizers (WSF) on
yield and quality of chilli. The experiment included four treatments: control (100% NPK), 50%
NPK + WSF, CRF, CRF + WSF. The results revealed that soil application of 50 % NPK + WSF
found to be the best treatment combination on basis of cost benefit ratio (1:3.1 and 1:3) which
has enhanced the capsicum yield (8.9 and 9.0 t ha-1, respectively) and capsaicin content (4.16 and
4.19 mg 100g-1).

Narayanamma et al. (2006) conducted a field experiment to study the influence of water
soluble fertilizers on yield of brinjal. The treatment included four different combinations of NPK
i.e. 13:0:45, 19:19:19, 15:15:30 and 17:10:27 with two types of spray schedules (3 times). It was
observed that the foliar spray of NPK (15:15:10) for 5 times starting from 40 DAP in addition to
the recommended dose of N, P and K gave the highest net income and cost benefit ratio.

2.5 Effect of foliar fertilization on soil properties

Singhal et al. (2015) carried out a field experiment at Navsari (Gujrat), to study the
effect of foliar application of fertilizers in okra. The spraying of water soluble fertilizers

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failed to exert any significant effect on soil reaction (pH), electrical conductivity (EC)
organic carbon content as well as available N, P2O5 and K2O in the soil.

A field experiment was conducted at Navsari Agricultural University (Gujarat), to

study the effect of spraying of water soluble fertilizers on cowpea. No significant effect of
spraying of water soluble fertilizers were observed on soil properties (pH, EC, organic
carbon content) and available N, P 2O5 and K2O after harvest. Higher status of N, P 2O5 and
K2O in soil was found with treatment receiving water spray (Singhal 2015).

Salunkhe et al. (2013) carried out an investigation to study the feasibility of using
banana pseudostem sap as liquid fertilizer in onion under drip irrigation. The field
experiment was conducted in FRBD, which consisted of 12 treatment combinations of three
levels of RDF (60%, 80% and 100%) and four levels of banana speudostem sap (No sap,
1000, 1500 and 2000 l ha -1). The results recoded maximum yield of onion bulbs produced
from 80 % RDF along with sap @ 2000 l ha-1 under drip irrigation. In case of nutrient content
and uptake, 100 % RDF with sap @ 2000 l ha-1 gave highest values which were followed by
80 % RDF + sap @ 1500 l ha-1. However there was no significant effect on the nutrient
availability and soil organic carbon in soil for the foliar fertilization.

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