Effect of Plant Growth Regulators and Nutrients on Growth Parameters of Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) cv. Gola under Semi-arid Condition of Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Immature fruit drop during early growth stages is a common issue in ber, often caused by hormonal imbalances, embryo abortion, and adverse weather. This leads to significant fruit loss in November-December, resulting in reduced yield and profitability. Given these factors, it is essential to manage them through foliar application of plant growth regulators and nurtients and other best practices. The present experiment was carried out at Horticulture Farm, Sri Karan Narendra College of Agriculture, Jobner (Rajasthan) during two successive years i.e. 2022-23 and 2023-24 to investigate the "Effect of Plant Growth Regulators and Nutrients on Growth Parameters of Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) cv. Gola". the research trial consisted of 10 year old ber plants, using the Randomized Block Design (RBD) and three replications, while the expeirment consisted of 10 treatments comprising five levels of plant growth regulators (Control, 2, 4-D @ 10 ppm, NAA @ 40 ppm, GA3 @ 40 ppm and Ethrel @ 25 ppm) and five levels of nutrients (control, KNO3 @ 1.5%, ZnSO4 @ 0.6%, FeSO4 @ 0.6% and Borax @ 0.6%). The first foliar spray of treatments was done just after flowering (second week of September), while  the second foliar spray was done 30 days after the first spray (second week of October). Results clearly indicated that among plant growth regulators, application of NAA @ 40 ppm significantly improved growth parameters viz.; gain in tree height, gain in trunk girth, gain in plant spread [E-W and N-S (cm2)] over rest of the treatments except GA3 @ 40 ppm which was found statistically at par to NAA @ 40 ppm during experimentation. However, in case of nutrients, application of ZnSO4 @ 0.6% significantly improved plant growth viz.; gain in plant height, gain in trunk girth and gain in plant spread [E-W and N-S (cm2)] over rest of the treatments except KNO3 @ 1.5% which was found statistically at par to ZnSO4 @ 0.6% during experimentation.