Effect of Botanicals and Chemicals on Growth, Yield and Seed Quality of Mustard (Brassica juncea)
S. Hafiza Parveen *
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Bineeth M. Bara
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India.
B. Anil Kumar Yadav
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
A field experiment was carried out during the Rabi season of 2018–2019 at the Research Farm, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHIATS), Prayagraj, to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of botanicals and chemicals on growth, yield and seed quality of mustard. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with three replications and eleven treatments. The treatments consisted of garlic, ginger and neem extracts at 10%, 15% and 20% concentrations, along with carbendazim, thiram and a control. The control (T0) recorded the lowest values for most traits, with 79.15% field emergence, 39 days to flowering, 125.43 cm plant height, 38.73 siliquae per plant, 7.40 seeds per siliqua and only 0.74 g seed yield per plant. Among the botanicals, garlic extract at 10% concentration (T7) performed best, producing the highest field emergence (92.55%), earliest flowering (33.67 days), 136.20 cm plant height, 40.80 siliquae per plant, 10.27 seeds per siliqua and the highest seed yield (1.85 g per plant), along with the maximum economic yield (48.41 g) and harvest index (31.63%). For seed quality parameters, garlic extract at 15% concentration (T8) recorded superior performance, enhancing germination percentage, root length, seedling length and vigour index compared to the rest. Although ginger and neem extracts at 10–20% concentrations produced comparatively lower yield values—such as neem 10% (T4) showing 74.07% field emergence and 1.40 g seed yield per plant—they remain eco-friendly, safe and low-cost alternatives to chemical seed treatments. Overall, the study concludes that garlic extract at 10% concentration is most effective for improving mustard growth and yield, while 15% garlic extractis superior for enhancing seed quality. These findings indicate that farmers can adopt garlic extract seed treatments at appropriate concentrations as an affordable and eco-friendly method to improve mustard productivity and seed quality under field conditions.
Keywords: Carbendazim, thiram, neem, garlic, ginger, mustard