Influence of Exogenously Applied Growth Regulators on Mitigating Fruit Splitting and Enhancing Yield and Quality in ‘Daisy’ Mandarin in an Arid Irrigated Region of the Punjab
摘要
Fruit splitting is a significant preharvest physiological disorder that adversely affects both the quality and yield attributes of ‘Daisy’ mandarin. Despite its prevalence, there is limited knowledge available regarding the foliar application of growth regulators. To address this problem, the present investigation was carried out in a farmer field in the irrigated zone of Jaito (Kotkapura, Punjab, India) during 2022 to evaluate the effect of various growth regulators on fruit splitting incidence. Foliar applications of different growth regulators were applied at different development stages to assess their efficacy in reducing fruit splitting and enhancing yield and fruit quality attributes. Different concentrations of growth regulators, i.e., gibberellic acid (GA3) at 10, 20, and 30 ppm; naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) at 10, 20, and 30 ppm; ethephon at 10, 20, and 30 ppm; and salicylic acid (SA) at 100 and 200 ppm were investigated, along with control. The results of this research concluded that fruit splitting was significantly reduced with the application of 100 ppm SA. In addition, fruit quality attributes and yield attributes were significantly improved with the application of 10 ppm GA3, which enhanced overall fruit development and quality. These findings suggest that growth regulator sprays can improve the resilience and productivity of ‘Daisy’ mandarin.