Figure 1 Bhutan map showing the location of study sites (•) in three main apple growing areas
four inorganic and two mixed fertilizer
applications. At Paro, the 10 sampled orchards
consisted of two organic, three inorganic and five
mixed fertilizer applications. At Haa, the 12
sampled orchards consisted of five organic and
seven mixed fertilizer applications; no inorganic
practices were available for observation.
Traditionally, apple growers use
farmyard manure (FYM) from their own farms that
is composted from a mixture of cow dung and leaf
litter in the apple orchard. In general, for each apple
tree, about 7–15 kg of FYM is applied annually
(Table 1). Fertilizers like urea (46% N), suphala
(15:15:15 of N-P-K), single superphosphate (16%
P2O5) and muriate of potash (60% K2O) are the
common inorganic fertilizers use in apple orchards.
About 0.2–1.5 kg per tree of inorganic fertilizer
mixture is applied annually (Table 1). Fertilizers
are broadcast under the tree canopy area during
December to March. Small- and medium-scale
apple orchards with less than 200 trees aged
between 10 and 20 y were selected. Six to seven