Effect of Gibberellic Acid Spray on Growth, Nutrient Uptake and Yield Attributes During Various Growth Stages of Black Cumin (Nigella saliva L.)

摘要

Field trials were conducted on black cumin (Nigella saliva L.), sprayed with either deionized water (control) or 1 (T~5 M GA_3 at 40 (vegetative stage) or 60 (flowering stage) Days after Sowing (DAS) to characterize the effects of hormone treatment onthe mentioned parameters and select the suitable growth stage for spray in order to achieve desired results. Shoot length/plant, leaf number/plant, leaf area/plant, branch number/plant, dry weight/plant and accumulations of N, P and K were assayed at 70DAS. Capsule number/plant, seeds capsule~(-1), 1000 seed weight, seed yield q ha~(-1), harvest index and Seed Yield Merit (SYM) were analyzed at harvest (130 DAS). It was noted that growth, NPK accumulation and seed yield were maximal when spraying of GA_3 was carried out at 40 DAS. However, spraying at 60 DAS was not much effective in terms of the parameters studied. Moreover, there was a significant difference in spray treatments at various growth stages only when GA_3 was sprayed and not when waterwas sprayed.