Leaf area estimation is an important biometrical trait for evaluating leaf development and plant growth analysis in field study of horticultural as well as other species of crop plants. These measurements can be made either destructively and/or non-destructively by using a variety of sensitive instruments as INTRODUCTIONCrop growth, productivity and quality are directly related to leaf area (LA) as leaves constitute the most important aerial organ of the plant, playing a major role in the photosynthetic assimilation by means of the light absorbing pigments (e.g., chlorophyll and carotenoids), which they possess in abundance. Hence, the total leaf area, which in the majority of cases has a direct bearing on the amount of chlorophyll, is an important parameter for assessing the ability of the plant to synthesize its dry matter (Prasada Rao et al., 1978). In addition, leaf area development strongly influences water and nutrient use of the horticultural crop plants and thus important for cultural management practices such as irrigation, fertilization, etc. It is also needed for evaluation of training and pruning systems and estimation of pest population densities in horticultural crops (Lang, 2005a;Anderson et al., 1999;Sepulveda and Kliewer, 1983; Elsner and Jubb, 1988; Lang, 2000b). A large number of methods, either destructive or not, have been developed to measure leaf area. However, measuring the surface area of a large number of leaves, especially in the field, can be costly, time consuming, laborious and usually destructive (Beerling and Fry, 1990). Many methods like tracing, blueprinting, photographing, or using a conventional planimeter, require the excision of leaves from the plants. It is therefore, not possible to make successive measurements of the same leaf. Also, the plant canopy is damaged, which might cause problems to other measurements or experiments (Lu et al., 2004). Non-destructive methods, which do not require the leaves to be detached, are useful because they allow measurements to be repeated during the plant"s growth period, and reduce the variability associated with destructive sampling procedures (Silva et al., 2005;Pandey and Singh 2011). Instruments and laser optic apparatuses have been developed for quick, accurate, and non-destructive measurement of leaf area (Daughtry 1990; Fladung and Ritter, 1991; Mori et al., 1991;Smith et al., 1991;Blanke, 1995;Ebert, 1995;Beverly and van Lersel, 1998; Igathinathane et al., 2006). However, these devices are somewhat expensive, time-consuming and complex (Manivel and Weaver, 1974;Robbins and Pharr, 1987) for basic and simple studies. A modelling approach involving linear relationships between LA and one or more dimensions of the leaf is an inexpensive, rapid, reliable and a nondestructive alternative for accurately measuring LA (Williams and Martinson, 2003; Lu et al., 2004). Thus for many fruit (Kobayashi, 1988;Potdar and Pawar, 1991; Uzun and Çelik, 1999;Campostrini and Yamanishi, 2001;Williams and Martinson, 2003;Demirsoy et al., 20...

SummaryThe present investigation on effect of different growth regulator combinations on the per cent media browning in walnut in vitro studies using MS medium was carried out in order to document the available genetic variability in walnut germplasm and to select elite walnut genotypes possessing superior attributes and quality traits. During the survey, data was recorded on one hundred fifty two (152) walnut trees growing in different areas of Kashmir valley. The study also involved establishment of response of elite walnut selections to different plant growth regulators in shoot morphogenesis. Woody species have been found to be far more difficult to clone in vitro than herbaceous plants. Poor response of the explants from mature woody species to in vitro manipulation is usually associated with the problem of browning and explant necrosis. The present studies were conducted on forced explants from three walnut selections (SKUAST 002, SKUAST 008, SKUAST 010). Murashiage and Skoog's basal medium supplemented with 0.3 mg/l -1 Benzylamino purine and 0.1 mg/l -1 indole-3-butyric acid gave best response in the establishment of initiating cultures, minimum media browning (80.44 %), minimum explant browning (78.22 %) and minimum mean browning score per explant (9.17 %). The survival (23.45%) and growth of the cultures (21.77%) was also found to be maximum in MS medium supplemented with BAP 0.3 mg l -1 and IBA 0.1 mg l -1 .

The Effect of bio-stimulants on improving floral characteristics, yield and quality of apple cv. Red Delicious was studied in the Division of Fruit Science, SKUAST-Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar during the year 2013 and 2014. Twenty five year old apple trees of cv. Red Delicious were selected at the Sher-e-Kashmir university of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Shalimar, Kashmir. The soluble boron of solubor (0.1%) and bio-stimulants of Biozyme (1.5 ml/lt) and triacontanol (10 ppm) and their combinations were sprayed at three timings: (i) At pink bud stage (ii) three weeks after fruit set of apple (iii) two months after second spray. Two months after second spray, solubor was replaced with 0.5% CaCl 2 .The results revealed that combination of solubor + biozyme + triacontanol and solubor + biozyme was more effective to improve floral and yield characteristics with fruit set (74.71 and 69.50%) and yield (97.75 and 92.70 kg/trees) Fruits were harvested and analysed for their Zubair et al.; BJAST, 21(2): 1-9, 2017; Article no.BJAST.33634 2 physico-chemical characteristics. Foliar application of solubor + biozyme + triaconatanol and biozyme + triacontanol improved fruit color, size, weight, volume, firmness and TSS, sugars while acidity declined in all treatments at various stages. Original Research Article

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