Seasonal Change and Indole Butyric Acid (IBA) Effect on Survival and Branch Development in Culm Cuttings of Bambusa balcooa Roxb. and Dendrocalamus stocksii Munro

Abstract

The experiment was conducted under nursery condition in agroforestry research farm, Nagpur (Maharashtra), India during year 2023-24 to investigate the impact of various concentrations of Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) treatments on plant survival percentage and branch production during two distinct seasons, the rainy (S1) and summer (S2) periods. The experiment was consisting of 12 treatment combinations based on two factors. Cuttings were treated with IBA 500 ppm, 1000 ppm, 1500 ppm, 2000 ppm and 2500 ppm. In the rainy season, survival rates ranged from 16.67% (control) to 80.00% (2500 ppm), with the highest survival at 2500 ppm in culm cuttings of B2. The number of branches per plant varied from 0.67 to 2.67 across treatments. No significant interaction was observed between the factors for both survival and branching in this season. During the summer season, survival rates were higher, ranging from 59.00% (control) to 96.67% (2500 ppm). The number of branches also increased significantly, reaching up to 9.00 branches in the 2000 ppm treatment for culm cuttings of B2. A significant interaction was noted for survival percentage between IBA concentration and branches in the summer season, while branching was not significantly affected by the interaction. Overall, the application of IBA, especially at higher concentrations, positively influenced survival and branching, with more pronounced effects in the summer season compared to the rainy season.