Increasing the seed production efficiency of autumn potato with plant growth regulators

Higher productivity of seed-size tubers is a significant issue in seed potato (Solanum tuberosum) production systems. Punjab, in northwest India, is the hub of seed potato production and supplies 60% seed requirement of the country. However, to improve the productivity of seed-size (3.5-4.5 cm) tubers, research trials were run at Ludhiana for 2 years (autumn 2019 and 2020) to examine the effectiveness of plant growth regulators in enhancing the growth and yield of seed potatoes. The experimental trial with 11 growth regulation treatments-control (water spray), IBA (indole-3-butyric acid) (100 mg/L), IBA (200 mg/L), NAA (1-naphthaleneacetic acid) (25 mg/L), NAA (50 mg/L), ethrel (25 mg/L), ethrel (50 mg/L), GA3 (gibberellic acid) (100 mg/L), GA3 (200 mg/L), jeevamrit, and waste decomposer-was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. GA3 (200 mg/L) applied at 45 and 60 days after sowing, resulted in significantly higher seed and total tuber yields than all other growth regulation treatments. It produced 34.9% and 31.5% higher total tuber yields as compared to the untreated control. However, it had no significant impact on undersized and small-sized tuber yield and number. GA3 at a concentration of 200 mg/L yielded the highest seed production efficiency of 51.7% and 38.9% compared to the control. This underscores the significance of precise application concentrations in controlling both seed yield and size.