Physiological Role of Nutrient Consortium for Improving the Yield in Cotton

The present investigation was carried out to study the impact of nutrients and PGRs (Plant Growth Regulators) on morphological, physiological and yield attributes of the cotton crop. The statistical design used for the study was Factorial Completely Randomized Design (FCRD) with four replications. The pot culture experiment was conducted in the Glass house, Department of Crop Physiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) during February 2023 – June 2023. The study was carried out using two cotton varieties (CO 17 and MCU 5) with the treatments containing 1% foliar spray of Nutrio-hormonal consortia Ⅰ, Nutrio-hormonal consortia Ⅱ, Cotton Booster Ⅰ, Cotton Booster Ⅱ and control. The treatments were imposed during flowering and boll development stages. The morphological, physiological and yield attributes viz., plant height (in cm), chlorophyll index, total dry matter production (g/plant), number of sympodial branches per plant, number of bolls per plant, boll weight (g/boll) and seed cotton yield (g/plant) were recorded. Foliar application of the Cotton booster Ⅱ resulted in significant increase in the plant height (58.35 cm), total dry matter production (38.65 g/plant), number of sympodial branches per plant (17.8), number of bolls per plant (15.60), boll weight (3.88 g/boll) and seed cotton yield (42.79 g/plant) followed by Cotton booster Ⅰ in CO 17 variety. Similarly, in MCU 5 cotton variety, significant difference was observed in plant height (69.37 cm), total dry matter production (45.60 g/plant), number of sympodial branches per plant (19.6), number of bolls per plant (20.0), boll weight(4.39 g/boll) and seed cotton yield (48.77 g/plant). In conclusion, foliar application of 1% Cotton Booster Ⅱ exhibited better growth and yield attributes in cotton.