Effect of Plant Growth Regulators on Growth and Yield of Guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. Gwalior-27 in the Gird Agro-climatic Zone of Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during Mrig Bahar 2025–26 at the Guava Orchard, Vikrant University, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, to evaluate the response of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. Gwalior-27 to the foliar application of gibberellic acid (GA₃), naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and their combinations. The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomised block design with nine treatments and three replications. The treatment schedule consisted of nine treatments: control (water spray), GA3 at 50 and 100 ppm, NAA at 50 and 100 ppm, and four combinations of GA3 + NAA. Significant improvements were observed in vegetative growth, flowering and yield attributes under combined PGR application. T₇ (GA₃ @ 100 ppm + NAA @ 100 ppm) recorded the highest plant height at 90 DAT (355.0 cm), number of leaves per plant⁻¹ (40.4), shoot length (42.6 cm), canopy spread (4.0 m), flowers per plant⁻¹ (405.0), fruit set (89.2%), fruits per plant⁻¹ (323.0), average fruit weight (210.0 g) and fruit yield (339.0 q ha⁻¹). This treatment also recorded the earliest flowering (35.2 days). The results indicate that the combined use of GA₃ and NAA, especially at 100 ppm each, may improve the growth and productivity of guava cv. Gwalior-27 in the Gird agro-climatic zone.