Phytohormones Promote the Growth, Pigment Biosynthesis and Productivity of Green Gram [ Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek]

Asif Iqbal, Muhammad Aamir Iqbal (), Iqra Akram, Muhammad Abdullah Saleem, Rana Nadeem Abbas, Mashael Daghash Alqahtani, Raees Ahmed and Junaid Rahim
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Asif Iqbal: Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Muhammad Aamir Iqbal: Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Poonch Rawalakot, Rawalakot 12350, Pakistan
Iqra Akram: Department of Botany, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Muhammad Abdullah Saleem: Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Rana Nadeem Abbas: Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Mashael Daghash Alqahtani: Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
Raees Ahmed: Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Poonch Rawalakot, Rawalakot 12350, Pakistan
Junaid Rahim: Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Poonch Rawalakot, Rawalakot 12350, Pakistan

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-19

Abstract: Globally, optimized doses of exogenously applied growth regulators hold the potential to sustainably boost the growth and productivity of leguminous crops, including green gram. A field investigation was undertaken at the Agronomy Farm of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan in 2021–2022 to determine the highest-performing doses of foliar-applied salicylic acid (S 1 = 0 and S 2 = 75 ppm) and gibberellic acid (G 1 = 0, G 2 = 30, G 3 = 60, G 4 = 90 and G 5 = 120 ppm) for green gram (cv. NIAB-MUNG 2011) sown under irrigated conditions in a semiarid climate. The response variables included physiological growth traits (CGR and net assimilation rate (NAR)), yield attributes (plant height (PH), PBs and the number of pods per plant −1 (NP), pod length (PL) and SW, grain (GY) and biological yields (BY), the biosynthesis of pigments (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll along with carotenoids) and protein (P) contents. The results revealed that S 2 G 5 remained unmatched in that it exhibited the highest crop growth rate, while it remained on par with S 2 G 4 and S 2 G 3 in terms of its net assimilation rate. Additionally, S 2 G 5 maximized plant height, the number of pod-bearing branches and pods per plant, pod length, seed number per pod −1 and 1000-seed weight, which led to the highest grain yield and biological yield (104% and 69% greater than those of the control, respectively). Moreover, the same treatment combination also surpassed the rest of the treatments because it recorded the largest amounts of chlorophyll and carotenoid contents, and the P content was increased to 24% greater than that observed for the control treatment. Thus, the exogenous application of salicylic acid (75 ppm) and gibberellic acid (120 ppm) might be recommended to green gram growers to sustainably increase the plant’s yield and nutritional value, and these findings may serve as a baseline for conducting more studies to test higher doses of these growth regulators.

Keywords: biological nitrogen fixation; crop growth rate; growth regulators; green gram; grain protein (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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