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COMPENDIUM, IEEC-2023   ( ISBN : 978-81-967860-4-5 )
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Theme- 6: Community based Farming System for Nutrition - Achieving Nutritional Security for the Farm Families and Community

Performance of plant growth hormones on nutritional quality of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) under northern dry zone of Karnataka

Manju Prasada, D. P.; V. P. Singh2, Alka Singh, Y. C. Vishwanath, Mohammed Farooq SV Patil and Anand. G. Patil

College of Horticulture, Bidar, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot
vpsingh.neev@gmail.com

Abstract

Alfalfa is an important medicinal plant having stachydrine as alkaloid and used as laxative, digestive, diuretic and treating for dropsy, blood pressure, hair loss, acidity and arthritis. In India, alfalfa is grown in about one million hectares area and provides 60 to 130 tons of green forage per hectare. Alfalfa is mainly grown in Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Present investigation was carried out during rabi season 2019-20, Dept. of PMA, College of Horticulture, Bagalkote with the objective to study the effect of plant growth hormones on growth characteristics of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) under Northern dry Zone of Karnataka. In this experiment, the growth hormones viz., GA3 (50 ppm and 100 ppm), IAA (50 ppm and 100 ppm), NAA (50 ppm and100 ppm), Kinetin (50 ppm and 100 ppm), Humic acid (4.0ml/l and 6.0ml/l), Salicylic acid (1.5 g/l and 3 g/l) ) and water as control were sprayed at 30 and 60 days after sowing and analysed for nutritional quality parameters on 80 DAS. The quality parameters of alfalfa were significantly influenced by different plant growth regulators. The maximum protein content (17.65%) and vitamin C (276.73 mg/100g) was witnessed in the plants sprayed with GA3 at 50 ppm. Plants sprayed with humic acid at 4.0ml/l recorded a significantly higher vitamin B12 (1.19ng/g). It is concluded that foliar application of plant growth hormones at different concentrations significantly increased the nutritional quality as compared to control. This study specified that, among different growth regulators, the plants sprayed withGA3 at 50 ppm and humic acid at 4.0ml/l showed better results for nutritional quality of alfalfa.

IEEC-2023 at RARI (SKNAU, Jobner), Jaipur, Rajasthan organised by Society of Extension Education, Agra, India