Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-4-2023

Department

Department of Biological Sciences

Abstract

Pomegranate production in Afghanistan is increasing remarkably, but nursery services are lacking, leading to inconsistent growth and low rooting percentages in cuttings. Hence, this research was conducted at the greenhouse of Nangarhar University, Faculty of Agriculture, to investigate the efficacy of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and organic materials, namely banana, garlic, aloe vera, and panchagavya, as rooting promoters on cuttings of the ideal seedless pomegranate cultivar (Bedana). The cuttings were derived from one-year-old dormant branches in mid-February of 2023. The findings indicated that panchagavya and aloe vera significantly (p < 0.05) accelerated the sprouting process of pomegranate cuttings, resulting in 100% rooting, while IBA showed a delayed initiation of sprouting. In contrast, banana had a detrimental effect on the sprouting of the cuttings. IBA and organic materials, except banana and garlic, significantly influenced all the shoot parameters. Among the treatments, panchagavya (21.1%), IBA (23.4%), and aloe vera (26.8%) demonstrated the highest number of shoots per cutting compared to the control. A consistent soil plant analysis development (SPAD) pattern was observed across treatments, positively correlating with shoot and root parameters (range, r = 0.30–0.97). The application of organic materials significantly (p < 0.05) impacted root length, acrobasal roots, root diameter, total root length, and root fresh weight. However, banana and garlic yielded contrasting results in most of these parameters. In conclusion, aloe vera and panchagavya are found to be more suitable for propagating pomegranates through cuttings, making them excellent alternatives to IBA for nurserymen and companies.

Publisher's Statement

Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9090999

Publication Title

Horticulturae

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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