Promoting branching of a potential biofuel crop Jatropha curcas L. by foliar application of plant growth regulators

Abstract

Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae) has the potential to become a key biofuel crop. Manual pruning (MP) is one of the major management practices in commercial plantations of this crop, resulting in production of more branches and thus increased potential for more inflorescences leading to a higher seed yield. However, this method is time-consuming, labour-intensive and expensive. This study was conducted to determine the potential of different plant growth regulators (PGRs) to increase the number of lateral branches of J. curcas. A single foliar application of N 6 -benzyladenine (BA) at 12 mM significantly increased branches in both the pot (4.0) and field (13.2) trials compared to MP (1.8 and 5.7, respectively) and control (no new branches) plants. In the field, a single foliar application of 1.0 mM 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA) resulted in a significant increment in the number of branches (15.9) after 7 months. Of all the PGRs examined, 2,3:4,6-di-O-isopropylidene-2-keto-L-gluconic acid (dikegulac; DK) at 2.0 mM produced the maximum number of branches (18.0) in the field 7 months after application. Concentrations of 2.0 and 3.0 mM of 1,2-dihydro-3,6-pyridazinedione (maleic hydrazide; MH) significantly increased the number of branches, 4 and 7 months after spraying in both the pot trial in the shade house and field, respectively. Under field conditions, J. curcas plants responded better to all the PGRs (DK \ TIBA \ BA \ MH) when treated once, with insignificant variations in other growth parameters. This study indicates that a single foliar application of PGRs under field conditions can be an alternative method to MP for increasing the number of lateral branches of J. curcas.

Effects of Growth Regulators on Biomass and the Production of Secondary Metabolites in Peppermint (<i>Mentha pi-perita</i>) Micropropagated <i>in Vitro</i>

“…Cytokinins are known to be involved in the regulation of cell division, shoot and root development, apical dominance, and growth of lateral buds [17]. The great increase in ramification number observed in BAP-treated plants reflected the suppression of apical dominance and was consistent with the finding of Hafiz et al [18] that the exogenous application of cytokinin increased the lateral branching of Jatropha curcas plants maintained in greenhouses.…”

Growth and yield of bari mung-5 (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) following TIBA application

“…Application of TIBA induce greater growth, yield and yield attributes of various economically important crop plants viz. soybean (4)(5)(6)(7) , okra (8) , bottlegourd (9) , groundnut (10) , tomato (11) , jatropha (12) , alfalfa (13) and cotton (14) .…”

Effects of Different Doses of Fertilizers on Growth and Yield Components of Biodiesel Plant (Jatropha curcas L.)

“…Its multifarious benefits as a source of green manure, soil ameliorator and improve rural economy by generating huge manpower employment during various stages of its cultivation and downstream processing makes it a potential candidate for large-scale plantation on marginal lands (Abdelgadir et al 2007;Sunil et al 2008;Rao et al 2008;Kochhar et al 2008;Kheira & Atta 2009;Mishra 2009;Behera et al 2010). European Union and India have set targets of 10 and 20% replacement of transport fossil fuel with biodiesel by 2020 and 2012, respectively (Rosch & Skarka 2009;Biswas et al 2010).…”