Author(s):

M Uma Maheswari and S Murali Krishnasamy

Abstract: Field experiments were conducted at Department of Cotton, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during Winter irrigated seasons of 2017 and 2018 to study the effect of plant growth retardants on physiological growth parameters of machine sown cotton under high density planting system with varying crop geometries. The experiments were laid out in split plot design and replicated thrice. Treatments comprised of three crop geometries viz.,75 cm x 10 cm (1,33,333 plants ha^-1) (M₁), 75 cm x 20 cm (66,666 plants ha^-1) (M₂) and 75 cm x 30 cm (44,444 plants ha^-1) (M₃) and seven sub plots with foliar application of different growth retardants along with one control viz., Cycocel 400 ppm (S₁), Cycocel 500 ppm (S₂), Mepiquat Chloride 100 ppm (S₃), Mepiquat Chloride 200 ppm (S₄), Maleic Hydrazide 400 ppm (S₅), Maleic Hydrazide 500 ppm (S₆) and Control (No Spray) (S₇). The results of the present study revealed that machine sown cotton with closer spacing of 75 cm x 10 cm in conjunction with foliar application of 200 ppm mepiquat chloride (M₁S₄) significantly influenced the physiological growth parameters like leaf area index, leaf area duration, crop growth rate, chlorophyll index and light interception and increased the seed cotton yield.

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