Effect of Salicylic Acid on Seed Yield of Indian Mustard Under Terminal Heat Stress Condition

Seeds are the primary planting material for crop production. Climatic abnormalities, especially high temperature during reproductive stage may severely impact seed yield and also reduce the morphological, physiological and biochemical quality, ultimately reducing the field performance and planting value of seed. In present investigation, the impact of heat stress was studied for quality seed production of Indian mustard through application of salicylic acid. The experiment was conducted at Jaguli Instructional Farm, BCKV during 2023-24. The experimental design was Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) consisting of three dates of sowing as first factor and three different doses of Salicylic acid with control as second factor. Application of salicylic acid @400ppm (T3) influenced the plant height (cm) and number of primary branches, number of secondary branches, siliqua number, test weight and seed yield significantly. D1 produced maximum impact with significant variation, except for the character number of seeds siliqua-1. The interaction between sowing date and treatment did not have a significant effect except siliqua number, test weight and seed yield. Seed yield was maximum when salicylic acid was applied @400 ppm (T3) under timely sown crop (D1). It was followed by salicylic acid @200ppm (T2). The maximum influence of salicylic acid @400ppm on seed yield was due to maximum number of siliqua plant-1, number of seeds siliqua-1, and test weight. Under very late sown condition, D3T3 produced maximum seed yield, revealing positive impact of salicylic acid under heat stress condition.