Effect of Bio-stimulants on Growth, Development and Yield of Chilli (Capsicum annum L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during December 2018 to April 2019 at the Student’s farm, Department of Agriculture Science & Rural Development, Loyola Academy, Secunderabad to know the effect of bio-stimulants on growth and yield of Chilli. The experiment was laid out in Randomised Block Design (RBD) and the treatments comprised of: T1- Folicist @ 3 ml/L, T2 – Fylloton @ 3 ml/L, T3 – Globalga @ 3 ml/L, T4 – Tata Bahar @ 2.5 ml/L, T5 – Neo-Alpha @ 2.5 ml/L, T6 – Daiwik @ 2.5 ml/L, T7 – Recommended dose of NPK, T8 – Control. Biostimulants were applied as foliar spray at pre-flowering, flowering and fruit setting stages. From the results of the experiment, it was observed that all the growth parameters i.e., plant height (85 and 82 cm), no. of branches (29 and 26) and number of leaves/plant (288 and 262) were significantly increased by the application of Folicist @ 3.0 ml/L and Tata Bahar @ 2.5 ml/L compared to other treatments and control (54 cm, 13 and 150). Same treatment application resulted in significant increase interms of no. of flowers/plant (78 and 75), number of fruits/plant (128 and 124) and % fruit set (80.5 and 78.2%). The highest number of fruits/ plant, average fruit weight (110.5 and 105.6 g/ 10 fruits), yield/plant (682 g) were recorded in foliar application of Folicist @ 3 ml/L closely followed by Tata Bahar (674 g) and Daiwik (650 g) and the lowest values were observed in control (410 g). Application of biostimulants significantly increased the vitamin-C content of fruits compared to control.