Micronutrient deficiencies are very common in grape orchards. Muscat is the most ideal cultivar growing under Coimbatore conditions. It occupies 44 percent of total area under grapes in Coimbatore. Due to Zinc and Boron deficiency the yield and quality of the berries however do not attain the desirable characters being reduced yield, low in TSS, juice per cent and high in acidity. Many workers have reported positive effects of Zinc and Boron on yield and quality of grapes (Kumar and Bhushan 1978).Information regarding the effect of Zn and B nutrition on yield and quality is lacking under local conditions as far as Muscat grapes is concerned. Hence the present study was undertaken at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore to find out the effect of Zinc and Boron on the yield and quality of Grapes. The present study was carriedout in a farmer's field at Mathampatti during the year 1999-2000 on fully grown six-year-old Muscat grapevine. The soil tested sandy loam with pH 8.1, organic carbon0.52 percent, DTPA Zn 1.05 ppm and hotwater soluble B 0.23 ppm. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with 12 treatments each replicated three times. ZnSO4 at two levels (10 g and 20 g vine~(-1)), borax at two levels (4 g and 8 g) andcombination of these two nutrients were applied in soil after pruning. Foliar application of ZnSO4 0.5 percent, borax 0.2 percent and combination of these two nutrients were done at vegetative (20 days after pruning) and full bloom stages. Foliar spraywas given in the morning hours between 6.00 to 9.00 A.M. using a rocket sprayer. The ripened clusters were harvested and weighed. Ten clusters were selected randomly for recording various chemical (TSS, reducing sugars and acidity) characteristics following the standard procedure of A.O.A.C (1980).
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