Effect of growth promoting substances on flowering behaviour of cashew cv. BPP- 8 grown in the coastal region of Odisha

Abstract

A trail was carried out at All India Coordinated Research Project on Cashew, (OUAT), Ranasinghpur, Bhubaneswar, Odisha during the year 2016-17 to access the effect of growth promoting substances on cashew cultivar BPP- 8. The experiment consisted of eight treatments of growth promoting substances along with control. The treatments are T1- NAA @ 50 ppm, T2- GA3 @ 50 ppm, T3- Kinetin @ 50 ppm, T4- ZnSO4 @ 0.5 %,T5- Borax @ 0.1 %, T6- ZnSO4 @ 0.5 % + Borax @ 0.1 %, T7- Seaweed extract @ 2 ml. L-1, T8- Water spray (Control). Growth promoting substances were applied at three stages viz. pre-blooming stage, flowering stage and after fruit set except GA3 which was sprayed only once at pre-blooming stage. The result revealed significantly positive impact of growth promoting substances on cashew. Foliar application of ZnSO4 @ 0.5 % recorded significantly higher number of hermaphrodite flowers (66.33) and sex ratio (0.18).