ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Agron.
Sec. Agroecological Cropping Systems
Integration of mulch and liquid fertilizer improves productivity and quality of strawberries in North-Western Himalayas, India
Avinash Chandra Rathore 1
Anand Kumar Gupta 1
Harsh Mehta 2
Charan Singh 2
Pawan Kumar 3
J. Jayaprakash 2
Lekh Chand 2
D Jingerr 4
Tanushree Sahoo 5
Shreya Nivesh 5
Ram Bhawan Meena 6
Vijay Kumar Doharey 7
Muruganandham M 2
M. Madhu 2
1. Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (ICAR), Dehradun, India
2. ICAR - Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, India
3. ICAR - Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Bikaner, India
4. ICAR - Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation Chandigarh, Chandigarh, India
5. ICAR- Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Agra, India
6. ICAR- Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Agra, Agra, India
7. National Horticulture Board, Gurgaon, India
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Abstract
India produces about 19.84 thousand metric tons of strawberries from 3.03 thousand hectares area, but this amount needs to be increased to keep up with the growing demand. The USA (65.0 t ha–1) and India (6.55 t ha–1) have very different strawberries productivity levels. Nevertheless, the average global productivity is 23.37 t ha–1, which can be improved by combining several technologies, such as mulching, farmyard manures, and liquid fertilizers of macro and micronutrients. Therefore, the present study was conducted on strawberries (cv. Chandler, Camarosa, and Winter Dawn) with mulch and liquid fertilizer levels during 2019-2022 to improve productivity and quality of strawberries. The experiment comprises 36 treatments (fertilizers with four levels, mulches with three levels, and cultivars with three levels) were replicated three times and laid in a split-split plot design (SSPD). The results demonstrated positive correlations among most traits under investigation except acidity, which negatively correlates with fruit yield. Principal component analysis revealed total variability of 85.5 % among genotypes contributed by PC-1 (77.2 %) and PC-2 (8.3 %). The Chandler variety with Polythene + Paddy straw mulch and liquid fertilizer level 1 showed the highest levels of vegetative growth, fruit output, fruit quality, and dry biomass. Therefore, to maximize the net yield from strawberries, it was both possible and lucrative to use liquid fertilizers to feed macro and micronutrients with polythene + paddy straw mulch on the raised bed.
Summary
Keywords
Canopy spread area, fruit quality, mulching, Nutrients, strawberries
Received
06 January 2026
Accepted
18 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Rathore, Gupta, Mehta, Singh, Kumar, Jayaprakash, Chand, Jingerr, Sahoo, Nivesh, Meena, Doharey, M and Madhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Anand Kumar Gupta
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