Abstract

STUDY OF VARIOUS COMBINATIONS OF SOIL ON STEVIA CUTTINGS FOR HERBAGE YIELD AND ROOT PARAMETERS

Pooja K. Padhiyar*, Mayuri C. Rathod, Udutha J. and Mali S. C.

Abstract

The experiment was carried out to study the best combination of soil with different growing media for herbage yield (fresh weight and dry weight), number of roots/plant and root length of Stevia rebaudiana cuttings atissue culture laboratory, Main Sugarcane Research Station, Navsari Agriculture University, Navsari, Gujarat, India. From the observations of experimental data, Treatment T6 (soil+sand+coco peat+ vermin compost 1:1:1:1) was found best in terms of highest fresh weight of plant (10.40 g), dry weight (2.0 g) and root length (12.20 cm). Poor herbage yield, fresh weight (2.60g) and dry weight (0.46 g) was found in treatment T1 (soil+sand 1:1). Finally, it was concluded that proper roots also helped plant to survive and increase the survival rate with context to increase in fresh weight and dry weight of the plant. Results from this experiment suggests that one can use combination of soil + sand + cocopeat + vermicompost in equal proportion for good herbage yield and growth performance of this vital plant in South Gujarat.

Keywords: Sand, cocopeat, cuttings, herbage yield, root parameters.