Effect of Indole Acetic Acid (Iaa) on Fruit Drop and Fruit Quality of Date Palm Cultivars

Abstract

I. Introduction Dates (Phoenix dactylifera L.) belong to family Palmaceae. In North Africa and Middle East it is important staple food having a vital role in their economy and social life. It is primarily cultivated for food and also for animal consumption [1, 2].Out of thousands of worldwide existing cultivars, very few are present in Pakisan, which include Dhakki, Gulistan, Shakri, Zaidi and Hillawi. Dhakki is the most popular among all other cultivars and after Dhakki cultivar Gulistan is becoming popular. Gulistan is the second most popular cultivar in Dera Ismail khan after Dhakki. Its origin is Panyala; a village of Dera Ismail khan. It is famous due to delicious taste. The main problem faced by the local farmers now a day is its fruit drop due to which huge amount of fruit loss occur during different stages as they drop down unhealthy. Nearly 60% fruit drop in cultivar Dhakki occurs from flowering to young developmental fruit stage .Effect of many auxins, hormones and growth regulators on various growth processes of plants has been studied. Growth regulating substances have also shown to prevent the fruit drop and accelerating the development process in date palm fruit. There are many growth regulators such as Indole Acetic Acid (IAA), Indole Butyric Acid (IBA), Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA), 2, 4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2,4-D), 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxy and Propionic Acid (2,4,5-TP) which have been used to prevent the fruit drop. The plant growth regulators act as a messenger and are needed in small amount at low concentration. In fact their site of action and biosynthesis are different [3]. IAA is predominantly

Investigating the role of potassium and urea to control fruit drop and to improve fruit quality of “Dhakki” date palm

“…All the concentrations were sprayed at Kimri stage of fruit development during the two growing seasons. The fruit at Kimri stage is immature with green color and firm texture ( Hui, 2006 , Ahmed et al, 2013 ). The spray was applied (1L) on 10 selected bunches from each tree after one month of fruit setting and second spray was applied after one month of the first spay.…”

“…Hence, there is a need to adopt measures and approaches to reduce fruit drop, especially in date palm cultivars. For this purpose, different plant growth regulators and applications of different chemical fertilizers have been suggested ( Ahmed et al, 2013 ). Because of their synergistic relationship, foliar application of macronutrients, particularly potassium alone or in combination with urea, has also been found to be more effective in inhibiting the drop of fruit and improving fruit quality by strengthening fruit pedicels.…”

Effect of Some Growth Regulators on Yield and Fruit Quality of Sewy and Hayany Date Palm Cultivars

“…IAA is predominantly produced in cells of the apex (bud) and very young leaves of a plant. IAA is an auxin plant hormone and it is the most active auxin (Ahmed et al, 2013).…”