Vol. 11, Issue 7 (2022)

Author(s):
R Sivakumar, S Srividya and M Vijayakumar

Abstract:
Horse gram is an important pulse crop grown as rabi crop in Tamil Nadu and not grown during kharif season due to absence of flowering. An attempt was made to induce flowering in horse gram at kharif season by using plant growth regulators (PGRs). Field experiment was conducted to study the impact of PGRs viz., salicylic acid (SA-100 ppm), chlormequat chloride (CCC-250 ppm), mepiquat chloride (MC-250 ppm), tri iodo benzoic acid (TIBA-200 ppm) and nitrobenzene (0.2%) on growth, physiological traits and flowering in horse gram during kharif season by foliar spray at 25 days after sowing. Among the PGRs, TIBA showed its supremacy on growth traits and CCC proved its dominance on physiological traits. Foliar spray of TIBA registered lowest plant height (37.9 cm) and number of tendrils (2.3) compared to other treatments. Among the PGRs, salicylic acid recorded highest NR activity (128.43 µg NO₂ g^-1h^-1) followed by TIBA. Higher Chlorophyll Content Index (CCI) value (25.1) and photosynthetic rate (14.96 µmol cm^-2 s^-1) were recorded by CCC. However, flowering did not take place in any treatments. Among the plant growth regulators used, TIBA registered its positive action on flowering by reducing number of tendrils, however not enough.