Vol. 11, Issue 3 (2022)

Author(s):
S Sony, S Mohanty, S Das, BC Das and JK Beura

Abstract:
An investigation was undertaken in the Department of Seed Science and Technology, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, during kharif 2019 to study the role of plant growth regulators as foliar spray on seed yield and quality of chilli. The experiment was laid out in RBD with three replications and ten treatments, viz., NAA 25 ppm, NAA 50 ppm, NAA 75 ppm, GA₃ 30 ppm, GA₃ 40 ppm, GA₃ 50 ppm, 2,4-D 2 ppm, 2,4-D 4 ppm, 2,4-D 6 ppm and untreated Control. Foliar sprays were done at 30, 60 and 90 DAT. Observations on various plant growth parameters, yield attributing characters, seed yield and quality were recorded. Seeds harvested from each treatment in three replications were stored in cloth bags for a period of six months to study the storability of seeds. Results revealed that there was increase in plant height over Control in all the treatments. Plants of the Control plot took least number of days for flower initiation in 50% plants (51.18) and number of days to maturity (105.52), as compared to other treatments. Foliar spray of GA₃ 50 ppm recorded maximum plant height at maturity, number of primary and secondary branches, followed by GA₃ 40 ppm, while lowest values were recorded in Control. Spraying of NAA 50 ppm resulted in higher fruit set, maximum number of fruits per plant, fruit yield per plant, fruit yield per hectare, seed yield per plant and seed yield per hectare (46.45%, 109.29, 322.70 g, 230.14 q, 8.24 g and 607.98 kg, respectively), while the Control recorded lowest values for the same parameters (41.87%, 94.12, 270.20 g, 197.65 q, 6.79 g and 493.82 kg, respectively). The seed yield from NAA 50 ppm was 23.12% higher over Control. Highest 1000-seed weight (5.624 g) was recorded in NAA 75 ppm, followed by NAA 50 ppm (5.527 g), while lowest 1000-seed weight was recorded in Control (4.994 g). Treatment with NAA 75 ppm recorded maximum (90.5%) germination, which was closely followed by NAA 50 ppm (89.7%), while the Control recorded lowest germination (86.6%). Similar was the trend regarding the seed vigour indices. During storage, there was gradual increase in moisture content after 2 months storage, while there was gradual decline in seed germination after 1 month storage. Highest germination percentage was recorded in NAA 75 ppm (90.5% and 85.6%) whereas lowest was observed in case of Control (86.6% and 65.7%) at initial stage and after six months of storage, respectively. Similar trend was observed for seed vigour indices. Thus, it may be concluded that foliar spray of NAA 50 ppm played important role in improving the fruit yield, seed yield attributing parameters and seed yield, while NAA 75 ppm improved seed quality in chilli seeds. Foliar spray of the above two treatments can be considered as a suitable technique for improving seed yield and quality of chilli, as well as reducing qualitative loss during seed storage.