Impact of Nano Boron on the Growth and Productivity of Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia L.) Varieties

Abstract

An experiment on bitter gourd was conducted from March to May 2024 at the Horticulture Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, Naini Agricultural Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. The study aimed to evaluate the effects of foliar spraying of nano-boron at 50 ppm on plant growth, yield and quality across seven varieties of bitter gourd: IET/2023/BIGVAR-1, IET/2023/BIGVAR-2, IET/2023/BIGVAR-3, IET/2023/BIGVAR-4, IET/2023/BIGVAR-5, IET/2023/BIGVAR-7 and JAUNPURI (check variety). The experiment followed a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. Among the varieties, IET/2023/BIGVAR-3 demonstrated the best growth, achieving a vine length of 2.25 m and 38.38 nodes at the final harvest. IET/2023/BIGVAR-5 recorded the highest fruit production, with 31.29 fruits per plant and a fruit diameter of 46.67 mm. In terms of yield, IET/2023/BIGVAR-7 emerged as the top performer, producing 42.18 t/ha with a fruit length of 12.55 cm and an average fruit weight of 125.06 g. Regarding quality, IET/2023/BIGVAR-2 exhibited the highest ascorbic acid content (82.56 mg/100 g), IET/2023/BIGVAR-4 had the highest total soluble solids (TSS) at 5.36°Brix, and IET/2023/BIGVAR-5 recorded the highest moisture content at 92.28%. Additionally, IET/2023/BIGVAR-7 achieved the highest benefit-cost ratio (B:C) of 5.27.