NSave Nature to Survive

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1 ISSN: NSave Nature to Survive : Special issue, Vol. VI: 69-73: 2014 AN INTERNATIONAL QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES EFFECT OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS AND SULPHUR ON PRODUCTIVITY OF CORIANDER (CORIANDRUM SATIVUM L.) IN RAJASTHAN S. K. Meena et al. KEYWORDS Triacontanol Brassinolides Thiourea Sulphur Coriandrum sativum Proceedings of National Conference on Harmony with Nature in Context of Environmental Issues and Challenges of the 21 st Century (HARMONY ) November 28-30, 2014, Udaipur, Rajasthan organized by Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Earth Sciences, M. L. Sukhadia University, Udaipur (Rajasthan) in association with National Environmentalists Association, India 69

2 NSave Nature to Survive QUARTERLY S. K. MEENA 1 *, N. L. JAT 1, B. SHARMA 2 AND V. S. MEENA 3 1 Department of Agronomy, S.K.N. College of Agriculture, Jobner, (SKRAU, Bikaner) , Rajasthan *Department of Agronomy, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, BHU, Varanasi Department of Soil and Water Conservation, BCKV, Mahanpur, Nadia , W.B. 3 Scientist (Soil Science), Crop Production Division, Vivekananda Inst. of Hill Agriculture Almora , INDIA msantosh674@gmail.com ABSTRACT The present study aims to examine the effect of Plant growth regulators and sulphur on productivity of coriander. The experiment consisting of four PGRs (1000ppm Triacontanol, 1.0ppm Brassinolide, 500ppm Thiourea and water spray) and four levels of sulphur (0, 20, 40 and 60kg/ha) making 16 treatment combinations under randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. Results showed that significantly higher plant height, dry matter accumulation per plant, chlorophyll content, number of branches per plant, number of umbels per plant, umbellets per umbel, seeds per umbellet, seed, straw and biological yields were obtained with 500ppm thiourea spray as compared to water spray and brassinolide but remained at par with 1000 ppm triacontanol. Application of sulphur up to 40 kg/ha significantly increased all above mentioned growth, yield attributes and yield of coriander over control and 20 kg S/ha. In terms of net returns and B:C ratio, the treatment 500ppm thiourea and 40kg S/ha fetched significantly higher net returns and B:C ratio over rest of the treatment. It was concluded that independent application of 500 ppm thiourea as foliar spray twice at 45 and 80 days after sowing and soil applied sulphur at 40kg/ha is recommended as these treatments fetched significantly higher economic net returns from coriander. *Corresponding author INTRODUCTION Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is one of the important and earliest seed spices crop known to mankind. It is native of Mediterranean region and belonging to family Umbeliferae. A pleasant aromatic odour is present in the stem, leaves and fruits of coriander, which is due to an essential oil containing mainly linalool or coriandrol (Magda et al., 2012). India has been recognized as a land of spices and at present it is the world s largest producer, consumer and exporter of the seed spices. It is mainly cultivated in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Orissa. Rajasthan ranks first in area and production (57%) of coriander in India, but the productivity of this crop is very low (India 737kg/ha and Rajasthan 1183kg/ha) as compared with its average potential of 1500kg/ha (Edison and Kallupurakal, 1990). Coriander is an important source of chemicals of á-pinene, á-terpinene, limonene and n-cymene together with various non-linalool alcohols and esters (Verma et al., 2011). Sulphur is a secondary plant nutrient but now considered as the fourth major plant nutrients after nitrogen, phosphorus and potash and reported to be deficient in soils of Rajasthan. It is essential for synthesis of several vitamins and amino acids i.e. cystine, cysteine and methionine and it helps in photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation. It has been reported to promote nodulation in legumes, resulting into higher production (Tondon, 1991). During recent years the use of plant growth regulators may be one of the best possible ways to achieve spectacular progress in crop production and productivity. Application of plant growth regulators has been reported to induce higher physiological efficiencies including photosynthetic ability of plants which resulted in better growth and yield of agronomic crops without substantial increase in cost of production (Sahu and Singh, 1995). Since, little information is available in literatures on the effect of PGRs and sulphur on growth and yields of coriander. Therefore, the present study was undertaken with the motives to find out and determine the effect of plant growth regulators and sulphur on growth, yield attributes and yields and net returns from coriander. MATERIALS AND METHODS A field experiment was conducted at Agronomy farm, S.K.N. College of agriculture, Jobner (Rajasthan) during Rabi season, (26º05 N latitude, 75º20 E and 427 m above MSL) with an average annual rainfall of 400 to 500 mm. Experimental soil have loamy sand in texture, slightly alkaline in reaction (ph 8.2), poor in organic carbon (1.6 g/kg) with low available nitrogen (127kg/ha), medium in phosphorus (16.6 kg/ha) and potassium (175kg/ha) and low in sulphur content (8.20ppm). The experiment consisting of four PGRs (1000 ppm Triacontanol, 1.0ppm Brassinolide, 500ppm Thiourea and water spray) and four levels of sulphur (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg/ha) making 16 treatment combinations under randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. The coriander variety RCr-446 was sown on November 2009 with rows spaced at 30 cm apart. A uniform basal dose of 60kg N and 30kg P 2 O 5 /ha through urea and DAP were 70

3 given and Sulphur was incorporated into the soil before sowing as per treatment through agricultural grade gypsum (12% S). Two foliar spray of 1000ppm, 1.0 ppm and 500ppm were done through miraculan (0.5%), godrej double (0.1%) and thiourea (99.9%) respectively at 45 and 80 days after sowing. Economic analysis of different treatments was done based on the prevailing cost of input/operations and price of produce for drawing conclusion. The data recorded on various parameters of coriander were analyzed following standard statistical Analysis of Variance procedure for randomised block design as suggested by Gomez and Gomez (1984). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A perusal of data (Table 1) reveals that the plant growth parameters were significantly influenced by application of different PGRs. Plant height significantly influenced by viz., Triacontanol, brassinolide and Thiourea remained at par with each other at 90 DAS. Whereas, at harvest foliar spray of 500ppm thiourea significantly increased plant height over 1.0ppm brassinolide and water spray to the extent of 8.63 and %, respectively. Foliar spray of 500ppm Thiourea enhanced significantly number of branches per plant and dry matter accumulation per plant at 90 DAS and at harvest, but statistically at par with 1000ppm Triacontanol. In term of percent of plant height and dry matter accumulation increased due to spray of 500ppm Thiourea by 13.21, and 11.99, % at 90 DAS and 11.29, and 15.06, 26.55% at harvest, respectively over 1.0ppm brassinolide and water spray. The favourable effect of thiourea on plant growth might be due to improved photosynthetic efficiency. Thiourea is a sulphydral compound which plays a bio-regulatory role in plants due to presence of SH-group and stimulated the photosynthetic CO 2 fixation mechanism. The SH-group has diverse biological activities such as diversion of photosynthets from source to sink. Similar findings also reported by Balai and Keshwa (2011) and Sanu et al. (2013) in coriander and Meena et al. (2014) in clusterbean. Foliar spray of PGRs viz., Triacontanol, Brassinolide and Thiourea was at par among each other significantly improved the chlorophyll content in coriander leaves by 7.85, 8.26 and 11.57% over water spray, respectively. The chlorophyll content in leaves due to thiourea had also been reported to suppress the speed of chlorophyll decrease which may be Table 1: Effect of Plant growth regulators and sulphur levels on growth parameters of coriander EFFECT OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS AND SULPHUR responsible for maintenance of higher chlorophyll concentration causing delay in leaf ageing and senescence. This finding is in conformity with Garg et al. (2006). Data (Table 1) on plant height of coriander improved significantly with the application of sulphur up to 20kg/ha at 45 and 90 DAS, representing an increase of 8.53 and 9.69% respectively, over control. However, at harvest 40kg sulphur gave significantly higher plant height (84.87cm). Application of sulphur up to 40kg/ha significantly enhanced the number of branches per plant over control and 20 kg/ha to the extent of and 7.55 % at 90 DAS and and 9.68% at harvest, respectively. The percent increase in dry matter accumulation per plant with addition of sulphur up to 40kg S/ ha was and 6.67% at 45 DAS, and 9.56% at 90 DAS and and 7.56% at harvest, respectively, over control and 20 kg/ha. Sulphur fertilization up to 40kg/ha significantly increased chlorophyll content by and 7.09% respectively, over control and 20kg S/ha. Further increase in sulphur level did not influenced chlorophyll content. Improved growth and development of the crop plants in the present investigation might be the result of enhanced metabolic activities and photosynthetic rate leading to improvement in plant height, number of branches, total chlorophyll content and ultimately the assimilation of dry matter at successive growth stage. The findings are in accordance with Jat (1996) and Patel et al. (2013) in coriander, Pratap et al. (2003) in fennel and Verma et al. (2014) in fenugreek. The data (Table 2) showed that application of 500 ppm thiourea as spray produced significantly more number of umbels per plant (20.95), umbellets/umbel (5.05), seeds/ umbellets (6.11), seed yield (1405kg/ha), straw yield (1946 kg/ ha) and biological yields (3351kg/ha) of coriander over water spray and 1.0ppm brassinolide but statistically at par to 1000 ppm Triacontanol. Test weight and harvest index was not affected by PGRs application. The increase in yield attributing characters due to application of PGRs may be due to the stimulatory effect of growth regulators which induce large number of reproductive sinks leading to greater activity of carboxylating enzymes thus resulting in higher photosynthetic rates with greater translocation and accumulation of metabolites in sink (Nehara et al., 2006) and ultimately higher seed yield. Similar response with foliar spray of thiourea was also recorded by Balai and Keshwa (2011), Sanu et al. (2013) in coriander and Gupta and Yadav (2009) in fenugreek. Treatment Plant height (cm) Branches/ plant DMA/plant Chlorophyll content 45 DAS 90 DAS At harvest 90 DAS At harvest 45 DAS 90 DAS At harvest (mg/g of fresh weight) Plant Growth Regulators Water spray Brassinolides@1 ppm Triacontanol@1000 ppm Thiourea@ 500 ppm Sulphur levels (kg/ha) SEm± CD (p =0.05)

4 S. K. MEENA et al. Table 2: Effect of Plant growth regulators and sulphur levels on yield attributes and yields of coriander Treatment Yield attributes Yield (kg/ha) Harvest index Umbels/ Umbellets/ Seeds/ Test weight Seed Straw Biological (%) Plant Growth Regulators plant umbel umbellet (g) Water spray ppm Sulphur levels (kg/ha) SEm± CD (p =0.05) NS NS NS non-significant Data of yield attributes significantly influenced by application of sulphur up to 40kg/ha. Thereafter, the increase was nonsignificant. The percent increase due to 40 kg S/ha was recorded to the tune of 32.66, 13.19% in umbels/plant, 11.71, 4.86 % in umbellets/umbel and 15.27, 4.50% in seeds/ umbellet over control and 20 kg S ha, respectively (Table 2). The highest seed yield (1394kg/ha), straw yield (1991kg/ha) and biological yields (3385kg/ha) were recorded upto 40kg/ ha which registered 24.46, 28.70% and 26.92% higher seed, straw and biological yield over control, respectively. Similar findings also reported by Choudhary et al. (2014), Gupta and Yadav (2009) in fenugreek. Foliar spray of 500ppm thiourea gave significantly more net return per hectare of coriander by Rs 2075, 8725 and Rs 7745/ha over 1000ppm triacontanol, 1.0ppm brassinolide and water spray, respectively. However, foliar spray of 1000 ppm triacontanol also gave significantly more net return per hectare by Rs 6650 and Rs 5670/ha over 1.0 ppm brassinolide and water spray, respectively (Table 3). The increasing level of sulphur upto 40kg/ha significantly increased the net returns of coriander by Rs and Rs 3064/ha over control and 20kg S/ha, respectively. Maximum B: C ratio recorded under 500 ppm thiourea (1.40) was significantly higher over 1000 ppm triacontanol (1.30), 1.0ppm brassinolide (0.87) and water spray (1.09). In case of increasing levels of sulphur upto 40kg/ ha (1.29) significantly gave the more B: C ratio over 20kg S/ha (1.17) and control (0.87). Table 3: Effect of Plant growth regulators and sulphur levels on net return (Rs/ha) and B:C ratio of coriander Treatment Net returns (Rs/ha) B:C ratio Plant Growth Regulators Water spray ppm ppm ppm Sulphur levels (kg/ha) SEm± CD (p =0.05) AKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are thankful to the Head, Department of Agronomy, S.K.N. College of Agriculture, Jobner, (SKRAU, Bikaner) Rajasthan, for providing the necessary facilities to conduct this research work and authors would like thanks to reviewer for improving quality of this manuscript. REFERENCES Balai, L. R. and Keshwa, G. L Effect of thiourea on yield and nutrient uptake of coriander (Coriandum sativum L.) varieties under normal and late sown conditions. J. Spices and Aromatic Crops. 20(1): Choudhary, P., Jhajharia, A. and Kumar, R Influence of sulphur and zinc fertilization on yield, yield components and quality traits of soybean (Glycine max L.). The Bioscan. 9(1): Edison, S. and Kallupurakal, J. A New varieties of improve productivity of seed spices. Indian Coca. Arecanut and Spices Journal. 12(4): Garg, B. K., Burman, U. and Kathju, S Influence of Thiourea on Photosynthesis, Nitrogen metabolism and yield of Clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) under Rainfed condition of Indian arid zone. Plant Growth Regulation. 48: Gomez, Kwanchai A. and Gomez, Arturo A Statistical procedures for agricultural research. 2 nd Edition, International Rice Research Institute. Hohn Willy and Sons, New York, Chicester, Brisbane, Toronto, Singapore, pp Gupta, D. K. and Yadav, S. S Response of fenugreek (Trigonella-foenum graecum) to varying levels of sulphur and bioregulators. Published by S.K.N. College of Agriculture in National Seminar on Spices and Aromatic Plants in 21 st Century India, p. 67. Jat, N. L Response of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) to nitrogen, sulphur and growth regulators. Ph.D. Thesis, Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner. Magda, A. A. E. M., Amr, F. M., Khaled, F. E. M., Manal, M. R., Mohamed, S. S. and Hamdy, S Effect of microwaves on essential oils of coriander and cumin seeds and on their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. J. Essential oil Bearing Plants. 15(4): Meena, V. K., Kaushik, M. K., Meena, R. S., Meena, V. S. and Meena, B. P Effect of growth regulators on Clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.)) growth under aravali hills Environment in Rajasthan. The Bioscan. 9(2): Nehara, K. C., Kumawat, P. D. and Singh, B. P Response of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) to phosphorus, sulphur and 72

5 EFFECT OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS AND SULPHUR plant growth regulators under semi-arid plains zone of Rajasthan. Indian J. Agronomy. 51(1): Patel, C. B., Amin, A. U. and Patel, A. L Effect of varying levels of nitrogen and sulphur on growth and yield of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.). The Bioscan. 8(4): Pratap, R., Meena, N. L. and Yadav, G. L Effect of nitrogen and sulphur on growth and yield of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.). Annals of Arid Zone. 42(1): Sahu, M. P. and Singh, D Role of thiourea in improving productivity of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). J. Plant Growth Regulation.14: Sanu, I. S., Naruka, Singh, P. P., Shaktawat, R. P. S. and Verma, K. S Effect of seed treatment and foliar spray of thiourea on growth, yield amd quality of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) under different irrigation levels. International J. Seed Spices. 3(1): Tondon, H. L. S Secondary micro-nutrients in agriculture guide book-cum directory. FDCO, New Delhi, pp Verma, A., Pandeya, S. N., Yadav, S. K., Singh, S. and Soni, P A review of Coriandrum sativum (Linn): An Ayurvedic medicinal herbs of Happiness. J. pharmacy and Healthcare Research. 1(3): Verma, S. R., Shivran, A. C., Bhanwaria, R. and Singh, M Effect of Vermicompost and Sulphur on growth, yield and Nutrient uptake of fenugreek ((Trigonella foenum-graecum L.). The Bioscan, 9(2):

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