Effect of foliar application of GA3 and NAA on growth and yield of ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.) cv. Thai Apple

Introduction

Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.) is an important fruit crop of arid and semi-arid regions and is valued for its adaptability to relatively harsh production environments. The crop is widely cultivated in Rajasthan and other parts of northern India, where plant growth, flowering, fruit retention and yield are influenced by cultivar, pruning, environment and crop-management practices. Reviews of ber production identify fruit drop, fruit retention, fruit set and fruit size as important production traits and discuss plant growth regulators as tools for modifying these processes (Singh et al., 2020) [1] . Plant growth regulators can modify vegetative and reproductive development. Gibberellins are associated with cell expansion and elongation, while auxins such as NAA participate in fruit development and abscission-related processes. Their effects are concentration-and stage-dependent, and responses can differ among crops and cultivars (Rademacher, 2015; Kumar et al., 2014) [3,2] . In ber, previous studies have reported effects of GA 3 and NAA on fruit retention, fruit size, yield and quality (Karole et al., 2016; Yadav et al., 2021) [4, 5] . Recent field research in Rajasthan has also demonstrated that plant bio-regulator treatments can influence vegetative growth, fruit yield and fruit quality of ber (Shashi et al., 2022) [6] , while recent work from ICAR-CIAH has shown that GA 3 application can affect fruit set and retention under hot-arid conditions (Kumawat et al., 2025) [7] . The present investigation was therefore undertaken to evaluate selected foliar applications of GA₃ and NAA on growth, fruit size and yield of ber cv. Thai Apple under the conditions of north-western Rajasthan. The objective was to identify treatment responses for the measured growth and yield parameters.

Materials and Methods

Experimental site and plant material

The investigation was conducted during 2025-26 through the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Tantia University, Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, India. The actual experimental ber plants were located at Fatehgarh, Hanumangarh, Rajasthan (335801), in the Irrigated North-Western Plain Zone (1b) of Rajasthan. Thus, Tantia University represents the institutional/departmental site of the investigation, whereas Fatehgarh represents the field location of the experimental plants. Six-year-old ber plants of cv. Thai Apple were selected.

Experimental design and treatments

The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with eight treatments and three replications. The experimental layout in the thesis shows 6 m × 6 m plant spacing. One tree represented one experimental unit for each treatment within each replication, giving 8 × 3 = 24 experimental trees. The 6 m × 6 m spacing corresponds to a spatial footprint of approximately 36 m 2 per tree and a theoretical plant population of 277.78 trees ha -1 . Treatments were randomly allocated within each replication according to the experimental layout. The thesis does not define a separate multi-tree plot boundary because each treatment-replication combination comprised one tree; therefore, no additional plot size is assumed.

Treatment

GA 3 @ 15 ppm T 3 GA 3 @ 30 ppm T 4 GA 3 @ 45 ppm T 5 NAA @ 10 ppm T 6

NAA @ 30 ppm T 8 GA 3 @ 15 ppm + NAA @ 10 ppm

Observations recorded

Observations pertaining to growth and yield parameters were recorded at appropriate stages of crop growth. Growth parameters included initial plant height, increase in plant height at harvest, total plant height at harvest, number of branches per plant, fruit length and fruit diameter. Yield parameters included number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight, fruit yield per plant and fruit yield per hectare. Plant height was measured from ground level to the apical growing point; increase in height was calculated from the difference between initial and total height. Fruit length and diameter were measured using a Vernier caliper. Fruits were counted manually at maturity, average fruit weight was determined from fruit weight observations, and cumulative fruit weight was used to obtain yield per plant. Fruit yield per hectare was expressed in quintals per hectare.

Statistical analysis

The experimental data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) appropriate for a Randomized Block Design following Panse et al. (1984) [8] . The statistical model was Yᵢⱼ = μ + τᵢ + βⱼ + eᵢⱼ, where μ is the overall mean, τᵢ is the treatment effect, βⱼ is the replication effect and eᵢⱼ is the experimental error. With eight treatments and three replications, the treatment, replication and error degrees of freedom were 7, 2 and 14, respectively. Treatment effects were tested by the F-test at the 5% probability level. The standard error of the mean was derived from the error mean square, and CD at P = 0.05 was calculated as t₀.₀₂₅,df × √(2×MSE/r) when the treatment effect was significant.

Results

Growth and growth attributes

The results presented in The results presented in Table 2 showed that the combined treatment T 8 recorded the highest fruit length (5.15 cm) and fruit diameter (4.83 cm), compared with 3.38 cm and 3.11 cm, respectively, under the control. The treatment response for fruit-size attributes was significant at the 5% probability level.

Yield and yield attributes

Discussion

The present study showed treatment-dependent responses of ber cv. Thai Apple to foliar GA 3 and NAA application. The combined treatment T 8 recorded the highest values for the measured growth and fruit-size parameters, while initial plant height was statistically nonsignificant. Such treatment-and concentration-dependent responses are consistent with the broader literature on PGR use in ber (Singh et al., 2020; Karole et al., 2016) [1,4] . The greater plant height and fruit dimensions under T 8 may be associated with the known roles of gibberellins in cell expansion and elongation and of auxins in fruit development and abscission-related processes. These mechanisms provide a physiological basis for interpreting the observed response, but the present experiment did not measure endogenous hormones, cell division, photosynthesis or nutrient translocation; therefore, these mechanisms should be regarded as interpretive explanations rather than directly measured effects (Rademacher, 2015; Kumar et al., 2014) [3,2] . The yield response was significant for fruit number, average fruit weight, yield plant -1 and yield ha -1 . T 8 produced 764 fruits plant -1 , 51.80 g average fruit weight, 39.57 kg plant -1 and 110.00 q ha -1 . Comparable positive effects of GA 3 and NAA on fruit size and yield of ber have been reported under other experimental conditions (Yadav et al., 2021) [5] , while recent Rajasthan research has shown that plant bio-regulator treatments can modify ber growth and yield (Shashi et al., 2022) [6] . Overall, the statistically significant responses were confined to the measured treatment effects listed above; initial plant height was nonsignificant. The results therefore support treatment-specific differences under the conditions of this single-season, single-location experiment and should be confirmed across seasons and locations before broader recommendation.

Conclusion

Under the conditions of the 2025-26 investigation, foliar application of GA 3 and NAA significantly affected increase in plant height, total plant height, branches plant -1 , fruit length, fruit diameter, fruits plant -1 , average fruit weight, fruit yield plant -1 and fruit yield ha -1 . T₈ recorded 0.89 m increase in height, 3.73 m total height, 59.14 branches plant⁻¹, 5.15 cm fruit length, 4.83 cm fruit diameter, 764 fruits plant⁻¹, 51.80 g average fruit weight, 39.57 kg plant⁻¹ and 110.00 q ha⁻¹.

Acknowledgement

The author gratefully acknowledges the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Tantia University, Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, for providing the facilities and technical support required for the present investigation.

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22. How to cite this article: Khileri D, Kumar M, Saran D. Effect of foliar application of GA 3 and NAA on growth and yield of ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.) cv. Thai Apple. International Journal of Research in Agronomy. 2026;9(10):243-246. doi: http s://www.doi.org/10.33545/2618060X.2026.v9.i10d.6791