Effect of Seed Priming, Plant Bioregulators and Boron on Qualitative and Quantitative Performance of Bottle Gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.]
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Date
2024-04-06
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Agriculture University, Jodhpur
Abstract
The present experiment entitled “Effect of seed priming, plant bioregulators
and boron on qualitative and quantitative performance of Bottle gourd [Lagenaria
siceraria (Mol.) Standl.]” was conducted under Randomized Block Design (RBD)
with three replications using cultivar Pusa Naveen at the Instructional Farm and
Laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Jodhpur during
summer seasons of 2020 and 2021. The research was conducted into two sub
experiments.
In the first experiment, the seeds of bottle gourd cultivar Pusa Naveen were
primed with 7 different priming agents with 2 different soaking periods (12 and 24
hours) keeping unprimed seeds as control which consisted fifteen treatments i.e.
Osmopriming with PEG 6000 @ -0.5 MPa for 12 and 24 hrs, Harmonal priming with
GA3 @ 100 ppm for 12 and 24 hrs, Halopriming with Na2HPO4 @ 1% for 12 and 24
hrs, KH2PO4 @ 1% for 12 and 24 hrs, KNO3 @ 2% for 12 and 24 hrs and CaCl2 @
2% for 12 and 24 hrs and Hydropriming with distilled water for 12 and 24 hrs and a
control (untreated). It was found that seeds primed with GA3 @100 ppm for 24 hrs
(T11) exhibited best results in terms of germination percentage (95.86%), speed of
germination (7.25 days), field emergence (86.68%), speed of field emergence (5.22
days), seedling root length (12.04 cm), shoot length (19.74 cm), seedling length
(31.78 cm), seedling dry weight (1.17 g), vigour index-I (2755) and vigour index- II
(101.87) which was closely followed by PEG 6000 @-0.5MPa for 24hrs (T10) on the
basis of pooled analysis. In the field study parameters, treatment of seeds with GA3
@100 ppm for 24 hrs proved to be the best treatment for characters like days to first
female flower anthesis (57.46 days), 50 per cent flowering (58.23 days), vine length
(5.56 m), number of primary branches (9.87), days to first picking (69.58 days),
number of fruits per vine (8.63), fruit length (27.29 cm), fruit diameter (6.67 cm), fruit
weight (682 g) and fruit yield per vine (6.07 kg/ha) and yield per ha (270.29 q) with
maximum net returns (Rs.1,96,053) and B:C ratio (3.64). Amongst the various seed
priming treatments, Bottle gourd seeds were primed with GA3 @100 ppm for 24
hours was rated as the most cost-effective treatment which produced the maximum
fruit yield per hectare, net returns and B:C ratio.
The second experiment consisted 21 treatment combinations i.e three plant
bioregulators (Ethrel, NAA and GA3) with two different concentration and two levels
of boron applied at 2 to 4 true leaf stage and 30 days after first spray during both the
years. The results showed that borax 0.05% + ethrel 500 ppm (T11) significantly
increased the plant growth, yield and quality parameters as compared to control
treatment. On the basis of pooled analysis, the longest vine length (5.83 m) was
recorded with the treatment borax 0.05% + GA3 50 ppm. The minimum number of
days to first male flower anthesis (43.83 days), minimum days to first female flower
anthesis (45.40 days), minimum days to 50 per cent flowering (46.05 days), minimum
days to first picking (58.37 days), lowest number of node on which first female flower
appeared (14.04), highest number of primary branches per vine (11.73), highest
number of nodes on main vine (54.86), maximum number of fruits per vine (9.07),
maximum fruit yield per vine (6.43 kg) and per hectare (286.15q/ha), maximum TSS
(3.47 ᵒBrix) and ascorbic acid content (7.59 mg/100g) were recorded with borax
0.05% + ethrel 500 ppm (T11) which was statistically at par with the treatments borax
0.05% + NAA 100 ppm and borax 0.05% + NAA 200 ppm on pooled basis. The
longest fruit (27.88 cm) with maximum diameter (6.95 cm) and the heaviest fruit
weight (720 g) were recorded under the treatment borax @ 0.05% + NAA 200 ppm
(T15) on pooled basis. Based on economics, borax @ 0.05% + ethrel 500 ppm was
found to be more profitable in terms of net returns (Rs. 2,16,451 per ha) with highest
B:C ratio (4.11) followed by foliar spray of NAA @100 and 200 ppm with borax @
0.05%. On the basis of experimental findings, it is concluded that bottle gourd cv.
Pusa Naveen sprayed with borax 0.05% + ethrel 500 ppm (T11) at 2 to 4 true leaf
stage and 30 days after first spray provided the maximum income with a cost benefit
ratio.
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Citation
Anupama 2024. “Effect of Seed Priming, Plant Bioregulators and Boron on Qualitative and Quantitative Performance of Bottle Gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.]. Ph.D. Thesis, College of Agriculture, Agriculture University, Jodhpur