EFFECT OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS ON YIELD AND QUALITY
OF BERSEEM (TRIFOLIUM ALEXANDRINUM L.) SEED
MEENA RANI, SUKHPREET SINGH*, U. S. TIWANA, R. S. SARLACH AND MEENAKSHI GOYAL
Forage and Millets Section, Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Punjab Agricultural University,
Ludhiana-141 004 (Punjab), India
*(e-mail : preetsukh44@pau.edu)
(Received : 30 JANUARY 2017; Accepted : 4 March 2017)
SUMMARY
A field experiment was conducted at Forage Research Farm, Department of Plant Breeding &
Genetics, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during rabi 2013-14 to study the effect of plant growth regulators viz., gibberellic acid 75 μg/ml – one spray, gibberellic acid 75 μg/ml–two sprays, cytokinin 50 μg/ml–one spray, cytokinin 50 μg/ml–two sprays, salicylic acid 75 μg/ml–one spray, salicylic acid 75 μg/ml–two sprays, naphthalene acetic acid 50 μg/ml–one spray, naphthalene acetic acid 50 μg/ml–two sprays, water spray and control on yield and quality of berseem seed. The application of one foliar spray of plant growth regulators was applied at flower initiation stage and second spray one week after the first spray. Among all the growth regulators, the application of one foliar spray of salicylic acid @ 75 μg/ml recorded significantly higher shoots/m2, heads/m2, seeds/head, 1000-seed weight, seed yield and seed quality i. e. germination per cent, root+shoot length and seedling vigour index and was also economical.
Key words: Berseem seed, gibberellic acid, cytokinin, salicylic acid, naphthalene acetic acid, seed yield, seed quality