Influence of plant growth retardants on morpho-physiological parameters and yield of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp)

The field experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Bheemarayanagudi, during Kharif 2021- 22 to know the influence of plant growth retardants on morpho-physiological and yield parameters in pigeonpea. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design and replicated three times with eight treatments including control, nipping at 60 DAS, mepiquat chloride @ 1000 ppm, thiourea @ 1000 ppm, chlormequat chloride @ 1000 ppm, daminozide @ 1250 ppm, ancymidol @ 1000 ppm and paclobutrazol @ 150 ppm were applied through foliar application at 60 DAS. Results revealed that nipping and all growth retardant treatments significantly reduced the plant height (cm) and increased total number of branches, total dry matter production, total leaf area, leaf area index and seed yield compared to control. Among the treatments, foliar application of mepiquat chloride @ 1000 ppm was recorded significantly lower plant height (153.72 cm) and higher total number of branches (37.85 plant-1), total dry matter production (149.12 g plant-1), total leaf area (85.83 dm2 plant-1), leaf area index (2.384) and seed yield (1970 kg ha-1) as compared to all other treatments. The treatment T5 (chlormequat chloride @ 1000 ppm) was recorded second best morpho-physiological parameters and yield in pigeonpea. The results concluded that foliar application of mepiquat chloride @ 1000 ppm at 60 DAS was found best in recording better growth parameters and higher yield in pigeonpea.