Effect of Plant Growth Retardants on Yield and Yield Attributes of Kharif Blackgram (Vigna mungo L.)

The field experiment was conducted at Agricultural College Farm, Bapatla, during kharif, 2024 to study the effect of plant growth retardants on yield and yield attributes of blackgram. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design and replicated thrice with ten treatments viz., paclobutrazol @ 100, 150 and 200 ppm, chlormequat chloride @ 500, 1000 and 1500 ppm, mepiquat chloride @ 1000, 1500 and 2000 ppm and control i.e., water sprayed were applied through foliar spray at 35 DAS. The main aim of the study was to increase the yield and yield attributes of kharif blackgram by using growth retardants. Results of the experiment revealed that all the growth retardants increased the number of pod clusters plant-1 (25.3), number of pods plant-1 (51.9), pod weight (21.08 g plant-1), test weight (4.95 g) and seed yield (1448.74 kg ha-1) compared to control. The increased seed yield (69.3%) with mepiquat chloride @ 2000 ppm was due to increased sink strength parameters leads to more yield attributes over water sprayed plants.