SEED POTATO GROWTH AND YIELD AFFECTED BY PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS UNDER SEED PLOT TECHNIQUE

Abstract

The commercial propagation of potatoes primarily relies on tubers, which serve as the pivotal foundation for projecting yields and concurrently constitute approximately 40% of the total cultivation expenses. This crop demands substantial inputs, particularly a significant quantity of seed tubers, for successful cultivation. The crop’s overall performance hinges on the metabolic processes of the plant, especially during its growth and developmental stages. To address the challenge of achieving maximum production and productivity, plant growth regulators play a crucial role, even though they are needed in relatively small quantities. Research has shown that plant growth regulators can influence growth and contribute significantly to increasing yields by 10-15%, either by suppressing or stimulating plant growth (Birbal et al., 2009). The growth and yield attributes viz. plant height, leaf area index, tuber weight plant^-1 and haulm weight plant^-1 were significantly higher with foliar application of GA (200 ppm) than all the other treatments during both the years. The significantly lowest values of these parameters were secured with the foliar application of Ethrel₅₀. Significantly higher total tuber yields were obtained with foliar application of gibberellic acid (200 ppm) at 45 and 60 days after sowing.