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Effect of Plant Growth Regulators on Quality Attributes of Growth, Development and Yield of African Marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda

Sumiran Chettri1, Indrajit Sarkar1,*, Dipayan Sarkar1, Aditi Chakrabarty2, Puspendu Dutta3, Arpita Mandal Khan1
1Department of Floriculture, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar-736 165, West Bengal, India.
2Department of Pomology and Post Harvest Technology, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar-736 165, West Bengal, India.
3Department of Seed Science and Technology, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar-736 165, West Bengal, India.

ABSTRACT

Background: African Marigold Tagete serecta L., is widely cultivated for both as cut and loose flower production in different parts of India. Marigolds are colourful, adaptable herbaceous annuals known for their large, colourful solitary blooms. The experiment was conducted to study the effect of different plant growth regulators and retardants on the growth and development of African marigold.

Methods: The experiment was laid out inRandomized Block Design, consisting 13 (thirteen) treatments i.e., T1- Control (Distilled water spray), T2- NAA@ 75 ppm, T3-NAA@ 125 ppm, T4-NAA@ 175 ppm, T5-GA3@ 100 ppm, T6-GA3@ 150 ppm, T7-GA3 @ 200 ppm, T8- ALAR @ 400 ppm, T9- ALAR @ 600 ppm, T10- ALAR @ 800 ppm, T11- MH @ 300 ppm, T12- MH @ 500 ppm, T13- MH @ 700 ppm. 

Result: The result showed statically significant difference among the treatments. The plants when treated with GA3 @ 150 ppm gave the highest plant height (81.17 cm), number of leaves per plant (315.08), stalk length (41.67 cm), number of flowers per plant (69.83), number of flowers per bed (1396.67), minimum days for first flower bud initiation (40.50 days), first flower bud opening (4.67 days) where as maximum days for first flower wilting (12.43 days), maximum duration of flowering (40.67 days) per plant.

INTRODUCTION

Marigold is one of the commercially exploited flower crop and is native to North America (Jadhav, 2018; Narute et al., 2020) belongs to the class Magnoliopsidae and family Asteraceae/Compositae (Shafiullah et al., 2018; Singh et al., 2018; Pradhan and Maitra, 2020) and has ornamental, pharmaceutical, ceremonial and antimicrobial properties (Gómez-Rodríguez et al.,  2003) besides its use in landscape gardening (Shivaprakash et al., 2011). The generic name Tagetes is derived from the Greek demigod Tages, renowned for his beauty. Thegenus Tagete scontains about 33 species (Rydeberg, 1915). The species (African Marigold) Tagete serecta, is widely cultivated for both as cut and loose flower production in different parts of India. There are numerous instances in which plant growth hormones are used to control flowering in various plants. Gibberellic acid (GA3) and Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) are essential for enhancing the vegetative growth characteristics of plants because they stimulate cell division and elongation bye ncouraging the production of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) inthecell (Murugan et al., 2020). Depending on the variety cultivated, the response to these practices can differ. In order to optimize the yield of plants by modifying growth, development and stress behavior, plant growth regulators have gained broad acceptance (Shukla and Farooqi, 1990). Mujadidi et al., (2019) did an experiment on African Marigold for growth and flowering they revealed that GA3 application at 300 ppm (40 DAT) led to the longest plant height, maximum plant spread and maximum branch number. African Marigold found effective in respect of plant height, number of branches, leaf area, flower diameter, flower weight and yield with GA3 @ 150 ppm (Reddy, 2018) and GA3 @ 200 ppm (Kousika et al., 2021). Murugan et al., (2020) found that NAA treatment maximized flower yield and xanthophyll content in African Marigold, with increased flower weight and flower number. Swaroop et al., (2007) found Application of NAA at 300 ppm to African Marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda increased single flower weight, number of flowers per plant and flower yield per plant. Maleic hydrazide (MH) and Alar are the growth retardants are being used for producing quality flowers and seeds (Murugan et al., 2020; Shanmugam et al., 1973). Hence, in this present study, two growth regulators namely (NAAandGA3) and two growth retardant snamely (Maleic hydrazide and Alar) have been applied as foliar spray in different concentration to assess the response of AfricanMarigold for growth and development as well as seed yield.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This experiment was carried out at the Instructional Farm, Department of Floriculture, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Faculty of Horticulture, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal India during 2021-2022 from October 2021 to March 2022.The treatment employed in the experiment were T1- Control (Distilled water spray), T2- NAA@ 75 ppm, T3- NAA@ 125 ppm, T4- NAA@ 175 ppm, T5- GA3 @ 100 ppm, T6- GA3 @ 150 ppm, T7- GA3 @ 200 ppm, T8- ALAR@ 400 ppm, T9- ALAR@ 600 ppm, T10- ALAR@ 800 ppm, T11- MH@ 300 ppm, T12- MH@ 500 ppm, T13- MH@ 700 ppm.  The treatments was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD), resulting in a total of 13 treatment combinations with 3 replications. The seeds of African marigold cv Pusa Narangi Gainda were collected from division of Floriculture and Landscaping, IARI, Pusa, New Delhi.

The experimental area was ploughed twice with the help of tractor-drawn implements in both directions and harrowing was done to break the clods followed by levelling. Stones, pebbles and plant residues were removed manually from the field. The field was levelled to provide appropriate water drainage. The layout of raised beds of the required size (2 m x 1.2 m) was done with rope and properly leveled beds were prepared with a spacing of (40 cm x 30 cm). FYM @ of 20 tonnes per hectare was applied at the time of bed preparation as a basal dose. NPK@ 120: 100: 100 kg per hectare were applied in the soil.

The stock solution of GA3 was prepared by dissolving 100 mg of GA3 ina small quantity of ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH). The distilled water was added in the solution to make up the total volume up to 1000 ml resulting in to 100 ppm stock solution. Similarly, 150 ppm and 200 ppm stock solutions of GA3 were also prepared in this way (Singh et al., 2018; Patil et al., 2016).

The stock solution of NAA was prepared by dissolving 75 mg of NAA in a small quantity of Ammonium Hydroxide (NH4OH). The distilled water was added in the solution to make the total volume up to 1000 ml resulting into 75 ppm stock solution. Similarly, 125 ppm and 175 ppm stock solutions of NAA were also prepared (Singh et al., 2018).

The stock solution of MH was prepared by dissolving 300 mg of MH in small quantities of ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH). The distilled water was added in the solution to make the total volume up to 1000 ml resulting in to 300 ppm stock solution. Same as the above result 500 ppm and 700 ppm stock solutions were also prepared.

The stock solution of Alar was prepared by dissolving 400 mg of Alar in a small quantity of ethylalcohol (C2H5OH). The distilled water was added to the solution to make the total volume to 1000 ml, resulting in a 400 ppm stock solution. Same as the above result other stock was also prepared.

All the prepared stock solutions were applied to the plants as foliar application through a hand sprayer. The spraying was done two times separately on each plot of treatments viz. 20 days after transplanting and 40 days after transplanting. NPK- Nitrogen (urea), phosphate (SSP) and potassium (MOP) were applied @120:100:100 kg per hectare.

The experiment was designed in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). To collect data on all the vegetative and flowering parameters five randomly selected plants from each replication of each treatment of the experimental plot were tagged. The statistical analysis of data was done by adopting the OP STAT.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Vegetative parameters
 
An exploratory experiment involving thirteen treatments of GA3, NAA, MH and Alar showed significant differences in plant height. The spraying of GA3 @150 ppm resulted in maximum height (81.70 cm) and MH@ 700 ppm applied resulted in minimum height (of 54.43 cm). The number of leaves was found maximum (315.08) inplant sreceived with GA3@ 150, while a minimum number of leaves per plant (207.58) was recorded in control (distilled water spray) (Table 1). The increase in plant height and number of leaves might be due to application of GA3 which helps in sub-apical meristem cells to grow longer, which had an impact on stem elongation (Reddy, 2018). This may be also because of application of GA3 which increases the amount of auxin in tissues and improves the conversion of tryptophan to IAA, which leads to cell division and cellelongation (Abel and Theologis, 1996). MH application reduces plant height by inhibiting cell division and elongation in meristem tissues, dwarfing growth and suppressing apical dominance, as reported in African marigold and (Kumar et al., 2020). The maximum plant spread in both directions E-W (60.90 cm) and N-S (63.23 cm) was found maximum in plants when sprayed with GA3@ 100 ppm and GA3@ 150 respectively, whereas minimum plant spread in both directions E-W (47.50 cm) and N-S (49.13 cm) was found in plants sprayed with MH @ 700 ppm (Table 1). It might be due to application of which interacting withauxin, reducesapical dominance, which leads to increased plants pread. This interaction mayac count for the increase in plants pread brought on by GA3 application. Similar findings reported by Reddy (2018) and Mujadidi et al., (2019) in African marigold. Maximum number of branches per plant (34.92) was found highest in plant treated with Alar @ 600 ppm Minimum number of branches per plant (23.08) was found in plants sprayed with control (distilled water spray) (Table 1). Similar findings were reported by Murugan et al., (2020) in African Marigold.

Table 1: Effect of plant growth regulators on vegetative attributes.


 
Phenological parameters
 
The plants sprayed with GA3@150 ppm took minimum (40.50) days required for initiation of first flowerbud from date of trans planting whereas, plants treated with Alar @800 ppm took maximum days (53.42) days (Fig 1). The findings are in comparable with Kalamani et al., (2017) in African Marigold, Prakash et al., (2015) in chrysanthemum, Kumar et al., (2020) in marigold. Application of GA3@ 150 ppm took fewer days (4.67) (Fig 1) days for thefirst opening of the first initiated flower bud while MH @ 700 ppm took maximum (7.17) (Fig 1) days for the opening of the first flower bud. As it is clearly revealed that plant received with GA3@ 150 ppm took least number (7.67) of days for first flower full blooming. More number of days (10.17) days was found in plants when sprayed with Alar@ 800 ppm for full blomming of flowers. Findings were incorroborate with Pal et al., (2021) in African  Marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda, Dutta et al., (1993) and Mujadidi et al., (2019) in African Marigold. GA3 @ 150 ppm took highest (12.43) days for first flower wilting whereas, least number (7.73) of days required for first flower wilting was found in control plots. The duration of flowering was found maximum (40.67) days with plants sprayed with GA3@ 150 ppm. Above results are in similar findings with Pal et al., (2021) in African Marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda, Kumar et al., (2020) in marigold. Earliness in first flower bud initiation, first flower full opening as well as duration of flowering was found in plants sprayed with GA3@ 150 ppm (T6) (Fig 1). Gibberellins increase cell division and elongation capacity, shortening juvenile phase and causing early maturity in crop plants. They also initiate early flowering and flower initiation (Phengphachanh et al., 2012).

Fig 1: Graphical presentation of phenological parameters of african marigold.


 
Flowering parameters
 
Application of GA3@ 150 ppm produced the highest flower diameter (7.28 cm) and fresh weight of 10 flowers (62.91 g) while minimum weight of 10 fresh flowers (45.91 g.) (Table 2). Above findings are in corroborate with Reddy (2018) in African Marigold, Pal et al. (2021) in African Marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda. Plants sprayed with GA3@ 150 ppm gave highest stalk length of flower (41.61 cm) (Table 2), Gibberellins induce cell division and elongation, leading to longer flower stalks. Maleic hydrazide inhibits cell division and elongation, causing decreased stalks. These antagonists disrupt plant growth, nullify apical dominance and disrupt carbohydrate and mineral metabolism. (Crafts et al., 1950) Maximum number of flowers per plant (69.83) and flower per plot (1396.67) was found in plants sprayed with GA3@ 150 ppm (Table 2). Above results are in conformity with Pal et al., (2021) in African Marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda, Reddy (2018) in African Marigold, Kalamani et al.  (2017) in African Marigold. The increase in flowers per plant and plot may be attributed to increased vegetative growth, early flower initiation, longer flowering duration, sufficient lateral development, improved reproductive efficiency and a photosynthesis-restrictive plant type in African marigold (Sunitha et al., 2007).

Table 2: Effec tof plant growth regulators on floral attributes.


 
Seed parameters
 
Different seed yield parameters were significantly influenced by application of plant growth regulators. It was found that minimum number of chaffy seed sperhead (127.00) was found from the plots sprayed with NAA @ 75 ppm, while highest chaffy seeds per head (211.83) was recorded in MH @ 500 ppm (Table 3). Maximum number of healthy seed sperhead (197.47) was registered from plants sprayed with ALAR @ 600 ppm minimum healthy seeds per head (110.68) were resulted from plants sprayed with distilled water (control). Application of GA3@150 ppm registered highest total seeds per head (365.57) (Table 3). minimumnum berof total seed sperhead (269.57) was resulted from plants sprayed with MH@ 700 ppm (Table 3). Weight of healthy seeds per head (0.81 g) and 1000 seed weight (4.31 g.) were found maximum in plots sprayed with GA3@ 150 ppm whereas, minimum weight of healthy seeds per head (0.27 g) and lowest 1000 seed weight (2.40 g.) (Table 3) was found in plots treated with control. Similar findings were reported by Kumar et al., (2020) in marigold, Kumar et al., (2015) in China Aster and Doddagoudar et al., (2004) in China Aster. Application of plants with GA3@150 ppm registered more seed yield per plant (56.59 g.) while minimum seed yield per plant (16.20 g.) (Table 3) was found with spraying of control, above results are in conformity with Kumar et al., (2020) in marigold, Kumar et al., (2015) in China aster. Significant increase inseed parameters like total seeds per head, weight of seeds per head, 1000 seed weight and seed yield per plant might be due to application of gibberellins may be promoted the production of hydrolyticen zymes to break down starchyendo sperm, which in turn affected the physiology of seed germination, vigour and seedling establishment. Metabolic changes caused by the use of gibberellins may have contributed to improvements in seed yield and quality parameters by influencing both quantity and quality to the desired level. Foliar spray of GA3@ 150 improved the vegetative growth like height, plant spread, number of leaves and floral attributes like early initiation of flower bud, early flowering as well as maximum duration of flowering which produced morephoto-synthases,which would have been diverted to the sink and produced a higher yield of higher-quality seed in African marigolds.

​

Table 3: Effect of plant growth regulators on seed attributes.

CONCLUSION

The results showed that GA3@150 ppm produced the best results for importantvegetative, floral such as plant height, number of leaves, number of branches per plant, days to first flower bud initiation, flower bud opening, duration of flowering, number of flowers per plant, number of flowers per bed. GA3@ 150 ppm may bechosen and recommended for quality flower production, for better qualitative and quantitative seed production in West Bengal’s Terai Region. The supply of flowers to market at regular basis is the key success to catch the proper market price as well as fulfil the demand of consumers. From the point of view, plant growth hormone GA3 @ 150 ppm separately in the same field for regular supply of flowers to the market plus seed production.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors gratefully acknowledge Dept of FMAP, Faculty of Horticulture, UBKV and Directorate of Research, UBKV for providing facilities for carrying out the research work.
 
Disclaimers
 
The views and conclusions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of their affiliated institutions. The authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information provided, but do not accept any liability for any direct or indirect losses resulting from the use of this content.
 
Informed consent
 
All animal procedures for experiments were approved by the Committee of Experimental Animal care and handling techniques were approved by the University of Animal.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article. No funding or sponsorship influenced the design of the study, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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