Effect of rootstocks on growth, yield, quality, and leaf mineral composition of Nagpur mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco.), grown in red lateritic soil of West Bengal, India

The present study reports the influence of seven different rootstocks (namely, Karna khatta, Rangpur lime, Lemon, Gandharaj, Kumquat, Rough lemon, and Acid lime), on the growth, yield, quality, fruit physicochemical and leaf mineral concentrations of Nagpur mandarin (budded onto), assessed over two successive years (at 4th and 5th year of tree age). The results revealed that the maximum canopy volume (81.26 m3) of Nagpur mandarin was recorded when the concerned scion was budded on Karna khatta. The maximum number of fruits per plant (238.33) and yield (37.52 kg tree−1) were recorded when Rough lemon was used as rootstock. Fruits with lowest acidity were produced when Nagpur mandarin was budded on Karna khatta rootstock. However, the fruits exhibiting maximum values for other quality parameters like total soluble sugar, total sugar, and ascorbic acid were obtained in Kumquat rootstock. The highest leaf N and K contents of Nagpur mandarin were recorded in Karna khatta rootstock, whereas, both the Kumquat and Acid Lime rootstock revealed superiority in leaf P acquisition over the others. Unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) clustering analysis revealed that Lemon, Gandharaj and Rough lemon rootstocks, displaying a close association with each other, exhibited an overall comparable horticultural performance and yield. From other cluster analysis, the Kumquat rootstock was recognized for its uniqueness and superior biochemical quality attributes, and was found to be separated from other rootstock clusters. Hence, the results of this study hold the potential to meet the consumers' demand, by selecting the suitable region- and agro-climate-specific rootstalk, that was unavailable so far.