Effect of plant growth regulators on growth, yield and fruit quality of kinnow (Citrus nobilis Lour. x Citrus deliciosa Tenora.) Singh Gurpreet, Maurya Rajendra P.*, Meena D.C., Singh Pushplata, Gourav Raj Kumar1 Department of Horticulture, Suresh Gyan Vihar University, Jaipur – 302 017 (Rajasthan) 1Division of Fruits & Hort Tech, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi – 110 012 *E-mail: mauryarose@gmail.com
Online Published on 19 March, 2024. Abstract The investigation was carried out to study the effect of plant growth regulators on growth, yield and fruit quality of kinnow (Citrus nobilis Lour x Citrus deliciosa tenora.)” at Fruit orchard, Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan) during the year 2022-23. The experiment was laid down in Randomized Block Design which consisted 10 treatment combinations, viz, control (T0), 2, 4 – D @ 15 ppm (T1), 2, 4 – D @ 20 ppm (T2), 2, 4 – D @ 25 ppm (T3), NAA @ 150 ppm (T4), NAA @ 200 ppm (T5), NAA @ 250 ppm (T6), GA3 @ 25 ppm (T7), GA3 @ 50 ppm (T8) and GA3 @ 75 ppm (T9) and treatments were replicated three times. The various concentrations of 2, 4-D, NAA and GA3 had a significant effect on various vegetative growth, yield and quality parameters and the maximum height increment (31.71 cm), annual shoot growth (24.41 cm), tree canopy (35.73 cm3), fruit length (7.41 cm), fruit breadth (8.58 cm), highest fruit weight (192.45 g), maximum fruit volume (313.87 cm3), juice content (53.82 %), lowest acidity (0.85 %) and highest (48.22 mg/100 g) vitamin–C content in fruit juice was recorded in GA3 @ 50 ppm (T8) treatment. However, the minimum fruit drop (71.91%) and maximum fruit set (84.80%), fruit retention (28.09 %), fruits per plant (587.16), highest fruit yield (91.99 kg/tree and (25.55 t/ha) were recorded in 2, 4-D @ 20 ppm (T2) treatment. Whereas, inferior results were observed under control (T0) treatment. The non-significant effects were observed in the application of different levels of plant growth regulators on total soluble solids (tSS) percentage. Results further indicated that the highest benefit: cost ratio (3.44) was recorded in 2,4-D @ 20 ppm (T2) treatment followed by (3.19) and (3.15) in 2,4-D @ 15 ppm (T1) and 2,4-D @ 25 ppm (T3), respectively. Whereas, the lowest B: C ratio (1.99) was recorded under control (T0). Top Keywords Kinnow, Gibberellic acid, NAA, 2,4-D, Yield, Quality. Top |