IMPACT OF EXOGENOUS APPLICATION OF SALT AND GROWTH REGULATORS ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF STRAWBERRY

Abstract

Strawberry is perishable crop which is exceedingly in demand for its taste, profitability, high yield and good quality. For production at commercial level growth regulators have been used in the past but in present more attention paid towards pre and post-harvest techniques by using combination of growth regulators with salt. Keeping in view, present research was laid at research area of horticulture department, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, during 2010 – 2011. The experiment was carried out to check the impact of exogenous application of salt and growth regulators on growth and yield of strawberry. The treatments thus formed were T1: Control/ untreated; T2: Gibberellic acid 50ppm; T3: Salicylic acid 1mMol-L; T4: Calcium chloride 0.4%; T5: Gibberellic acid 50ppm + Calcium chloride 0.4%; T6: Salicylic acid 1mMol-L + Calcium chloride 0.4%. Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was applied to verify the treatments. Results showed that application of growth regulators combined with salt was more effective in increasing growth and yield. GA3 either applied singly or among calcium chloride, radically increased the vegetative growth parameters by increasing plant height, crown diameter, canopy spread, fresh and dry weight of plant and leaves, leaf area, fruit set percentage, number of, runners, trusses, flowers and fruits; as compared to salicylic acid followed by Calcium chloride. However, fruit size, weight and yield were reduced. Among combined sprays of growth regulator and salt, Salicylic acid + Calcium chloride showed significant results in all parameters viz; vegetative growth, yield and fruit quality parameters, than Gibberellic acid + Calcium chloride followed by control. Salicylic acid + CaCl2 also improve the fruit quality by significantly increasing ascorbic acid content and Total Soluble Solids while titratable acidity showed non-significant result.