FOLIAR APPLICATION FOR PINEAPPLE PRODUCTION
Foliar fertilization is used as a means of supplying supplemental doses of macro-and micro-nutrients, plant hormones, and other beneficial substances directly to the leaves. Foliar applications are often timed to meet the demand of nutrients at specific vegetative or fruiting stages of growth, and the fertilizer formula is adjusted accordingly. Applications may also be used to aid plants recovering from transplant shock, nutrient deficiency and hail damage. Foliar spray in pineapple widely adopted by some producers due to the architecture of the plant and the morphological and anatomical characteristics of its leaves favours foliar absorption of nutrients [2].
The basis for this is that certain fertilizer nutrients are soluble in water and may be applied directly to the aerial portions of plants. The nutrient enters the leaf either by penetrating the cuticle or before entering the plant cell where be used in metabolism. For successful foliar fertilization, nutrients must be successfully applied to the leaf, penetrate the cuticle into the leaf and enter cells and metabolic pathways. The cuticle is a waxy hydrophobic layer that protects all plant surfaces from the environment and thereby presents a the barrier to the absorption of foliar-applied fertilizers [1].
In order for a foliar-applied fertilizer nutrient to be utilized by the plant for growth, the nutrient must first gain entry into the leaf prior to entering the cytoplasm of a cell within the leaf. To achieve this, the nutrient must effectively penetrate the outer leaf cuticle and the wall of the underlying epidermal cell. Of the different components of the pathway of foliar-applied nutrients, the cuticle is believed to offer the greatest resistance. Once penetration has occurred, nutrient absorption by leaves is probably not greatly different from absorption of the same nutrient by roots, the major difference being the environment in which each of these plant parts exists. There are two possible channels for penetration of foliar-applied compounds into the leaf before they can produce a response.
Seventy-five to 80 per cent of the nitrogen applied to Hawaiian pineapple fields is in the form of urea sprays, and 40 to 80 per cent of the phosphorus and potassium fertilizer is applied to the foliage according to Sanford and co-workers.
Nutritional spraying of pineapple has developed because (a) foliar applications were found fully as effective especially for high density planting; (b) the pineapple leaf can tolerate high concentrations of dissolved nutrients; © trace elements are regularly applied and the major elements, particularly urea, simply take a “free ride” [3] ; (d) Adverse soil conditions which favour fixation of nutrients and thus render many essential ones unavailable for root absorption; (e) Root absorption is slow for some elements and also results in poor translocation ; (f) Relatively large amounts of fertilisers are required for root supply and heavy application loads to soil-water pollution ; (g) Foliar supply of nutrients can result in increasing the photosynthetic efficiency and it is possible to modify the physiology of leaf ; (h) Foliar absorption is no runoff ; (i) reduction of nutrient deficiencies symptoms in before time of flower induction [4].
If you want to develop foliar fertilizer program customised for your pineapple production , kindly contact your agronomist at agronomist@presicaconnect.com.
References:
- 1] A. Geetha, Advances in Agriculture Sciences, no. September. 2019.
- [2] L. da Silva Souza and D. Reinhard, “The pineapple, Botany,” Trop. Subtrop. FruitComposition,Properties Uses Westport, pp. 157–183, 2006, [Online]. Available: https://www.ipipotash.org/uploads/udocs/10_Pineapple.pdf.
- [3] S. H. Wittwer and F. G. Teubner, “Foliar Absorption of Mineral Nutrients,” Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol., vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 13–30, 1959, doi: 10.1146/annurev.pp.10.060159.000305.
Originally published at http://suzietheagronomist.com on January 21, 2022.
