Determination of amount of plant nutrients removed by fruit of orange trees in the Çukurova region

The right fertilization programs for improving the yield and quality of citrus should be established in Çukurova region. One of the most important parameters of this is determining the level of nutrients removed by the plant. For this purpose, a study was carried out for determining the amount of macro (N, P, K, Ca and Mg) and micro (Cu, Mn, Fe and Zn) nutrients removed from the soil by fruit of orange cultivar Washington farmed in Hatay, Adana and Mersin. In the study, foliar, soil and fruit samples were taken in fruit formation period (November-December 2011). The yield of trees was determined to be between 181-189 kg, 65-177 kg and 105-135 kg in Hatay, Adana and Mersin, respectively. It was found that element concentration in fruit samples for nitrogen varied from 0.91-1.26%, with an average of 1.05%. The mentioned values were obtained as 0.66-0.91 %, 0.78 % for potassium, 0.09-00.16 %, 0.11 % for phosphorus, 0.09-0.15 %, 0.11 % for magnesium, 0.18-0.21 %, 0.19 % for calcium. In addition to this finding, the amount of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Mn, Fe and Zn removed by one ton of fresh fruits was determined to be 1550, 154.2, 998, 682.8, 137, 0.77, 0.56, 3.28 and 0.64 g, respectively. It was understood that farmers fertilizing habits and soil properties may had the importance on fruit yield and fruit concentration of the elements. According to the obtained results, amount of the removed nutrients for fertilizing a tree at the proper dosage must be determined separately for each cultivar and for each zone.