Influence of plant growth regulators on growth, flowering and yield of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.)

Abstract

An investigation entitled “Influence of plant growth regulators on growth, yield and quality of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.)” was conducted during the rabi season of 2024-2025 at the Research Block, Department of Plantation, Spices, Medicinal and Aromatic Crops, College of Horticulture, Bagalkot, University of Horticultural Sciences, Karnataka. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with eleven treatments replicated thrice, comprising foliar application of GA₃ and NAA at 25 and 50 ppm applied at 30 and 50 DAS and observations were recorded on growth, flowering and yield of fenugreek. Significant variations were observed among the treatments for all vegetative, flowering, yield parameters. The combined application of GA₃ @ 50 ppm + NAA @ 50 ppm at 30 and 50 DAS was found superior, recording maximum plant height (60.06 cm), plant spread (342.40 cm²) and number of branches per plant (14.06). This treatment also resulted in the earliest 50% flowering (42.57 days) and seed maturity (104.54 days). Yield attributes such as number of pods per plant (45.37), pod length (14.44 cm), pod weight (11.29 g), number of seeds per pod (16.53), seed yield per plant (8.74 g), seed yield per plot (0.460 kg) and seed yield per hectare (14.58 q) were also markedly higher under this treatment. The results clearly indicate that combined application of GA₃ and NAA significantly enhanced the growth, earliness in flowering and yield of fenugreek compared to other treatments.