Effect of Novel Plant Growth Regulators and Fruit Bagging on Yield and Shelf Life of Guava (Psidium guajava L.)

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out to identify the effect of novel Plant Growth Regulators and fruit bagging techniques on the yield and shelf life of guava cv Gwalior-27. Yield and shelf life parameters such as yield tree-1, yield hectare-1, yield hectare-1, physiological loss in weight, and rotting were analyzed. Brassinosteroids (BRs) have emerged as pleiotropic phytohormone owing to their wide function in crop growth and metabolism. Homo brassinolide (HBR) being an analogue of BRs is known to improve the growth, yield and quality parameters in many crop plants. Salicylic acid is accepted as safe and natural chemical compound for pre and post-harvest application on fruits to delay ripening, softening and reduction in lipid peroxidation and chilling injury in fruits. The experiment was laid in Factorial Randomized Block Design with 20 treatment combinations. It was observed that treatment combination P3B3 (Brassinosteroid (1.5 ppm) + White polyethylene bag) produced the maximum yield, while the maximum shelf life of guava fruits was attained in treatment combination P5B3 (Salicylic acid 600ppm + White polyethylene bag).