COMPARATIVE EFFECT OF SUCKERICIDES AND MANUAL DESUCKERING ON THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF FCV TOBACCO

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1 Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 23, No. 1, 2007 COMPARATIVE EFFECT OF SUCKERICIDES AND MANUAL DESUCKERING ON THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF FCV TOBACCO Jehan Bakht*, Shad Khan Khalil*, Mohammad Shafi*, Atta-ur-Rehman*, Sohail Akhter** and M. Ismail Jan** ABSTRACT Effect of different suckericides (Tamex, Pendimethalin 33Ec, Stomp 330Ec, Pendimethalin 455Cs and Manual suckering) was studied on the yield and quality of FCV tobacco at Tobacco Research Station, Khan Garhi, Mardan (NWFP) during in a Randomized Complete Block (RCB) design with four replications. Maximum number of suckers plant 1 (10.32) were produced in plots where suckers were manually controlled while minimum number of suckers plant 1 (2.05) were produced in plots treated with Pendimethalin 33Ec. Maximum leaf yield (3214 kg ha 1 ) was produced by plots treated with Pendimethalin 33Ec, while minimum leaf yield (2812 kg ha 1 ) was produced by plots treated with manual desuckering. The highest leaf nicotine content (2.29 %) was recorded from the leaves of those plots which were sprayed with Stomp 33Ec The leaf reducing sugar was maximum (12.36 %) in leaves of the plots treated with Pendimethalin 455Cs, while leaf reducing sugar was minimum (11.23 %) in those plots where manual desuckering was applied. Different suckericides used were effective in improving yield and controlling suckers, however, Pendimethalin 33Ec gave maximum yield and least number of suckers. INTRODUCTION Tobacco industry employs over 1.0 million people, generates Rs.27.5 billion as contribution to GDP and adds Rs billion as tax revenue to the economy of Pakistan (MINFAL, 2004). It generates 6 times more excise duty than cotton yarn. The growers get higher income from tobacco when compared with other cash crops in NWFP. Unfortunately, suckers develop in tobacco plants from the shoot. These unwanted suckers grow with tobacco plants after topping and compete for food, light, moisture and space. These suckers are very healthy and usually grow at faster rate than tobacco leaves. These suckers thus not only rob the plants of their essential food elements but also harbor insect pests and disease organisms. Removal of suckers from tobacco plants is a laborious job and consumes a lot of labour and time. Due to the above reasons it was thought essential to find out the proper suckericide and its concentration for suckers control, so that tobacco crop can be raised without suckers and which would be economical. Rao et al. (1993) reported that cured leaf yield was 3.21 t ha -1 with hand desuckering and with chemical treatments it ranged from 2.68 t with 3% Suckerout to 3.55 t with Accotab. Bhat et al. (1994) and Liu et al. (1992) reported chemical control of suckers increased cured leaf yield by 3-23% compared with hand desuckering. Janardhan et al. (1994) observed that chemical suckercisde did not give significantly higher cured leaf yields, and nicotine and reducing sugar contents compared with manual desuckering. Patel et al. (1996) concluded that pendimethalin, alone or combined with decanol, gave the best sucker control and the highest cured leaf yield. All treatments, except neem oil applied alone, increased cured leaf yield compared with hand desuckering. Long et al. (1990) investigated that yield of tobacco was more when chemically topped with flumetralin, flumetralin and fatty acid tank-mixed, and fatty acid/k-malic hydrazid compared with hand-topping. Bawolska and Lis (1988) reported that topping and sucker control increased yields by 22-46%, with the greatest response in cv. SCR, increased leaf dry matter content, wt and specific weight and decreased percentage midrib. Gregor et al. (1992) studied that application of C-malic hydrazid alone reduced sucker fresh weight by about 37%. Growth retardant treatment increased cured leaf yield by 7-14%. Patel et al. (1990) investigated that number and weight of axillary suckers decreased with increase in neem oil concentration upto 40% but pendimethalin gave the greatest control. Neem oil and pendimethalin gave greater control of axillary suckers than manual desuckering. Only pendimethalin was effective at controlling ground suckers. Keeping in view the importance of the chemical control of suckers in tobacco crop, the * NWFP Agricultural University Peshawar - Pakistan ** Agricultural Research Institute, Tarnab Peshawar - Pakistan

2 Jehan Bakht, et al, Comparative effect of suckercidesn in FCV tobacco. 12 present experiment was conducted at Tobacco Research Station, Khan Garhi Mardan (NWFP) to study the effect of different suckericides on the yield and quality of flue cured virginia tobacco. MATERIALS AND METHODS The field experiment was conducted at the Tobacco Research Station, Khan Garhi, Mardan (NWFP) during to study the effect of different suckericides on yield and quality of FCV tobacco variety Speight G-28. The five treatments studied were Tamex, Pendimethalin 33 Ec, Stomp 330 Ec Pendimethalin 455 Cs and manual topping\suckering. The concentration of all the four suckercides was 12 ml 2 litre -1 water. The experiment was conducted using Randomized Complete Block (RCB) design with three replications. Each subplot measured 6 x 3.6 m 2 with four rows, 6 m long, having 10 plants in each row. The row to row distance was 90 cm, while plant to plant distance was 60 cm. Nursery was raised for transplantation in the month of December 2004 and transplanted during the last week of March The seedlings were hardened one week before transplantation by holding water to absorb shock of transplantation. Before transplantation, land was ploughed using cultivator and sub-soiler and then worked with rotavator for breaking of clods. Ridges were made and transplantation was done on ridges following the recommended spacing. The seedlings of about 13 cm size with 5-6 leaves were uprooted with complete root system (root ball) for better establishment after transplantation. Irrigation was applied immediately after transplantation. Suckericides were applied three months after transplantation. After transplantation and establishment of the plants, weeds were removed through hoeing. After reaching of the plants to the button stage, topping was done in each subplot and then they were treated with suckericides and manual suckering. Field was thoroughly prepared, irrigation and weeding was done according to the standard practices. Data was recorded on the following parameters. Number of Suckers Plant -1 Data regarding number of suckers plant -1 was recorded three times in each subplot by counting the number of suckers in 10 plants and then calculating the average. Green Weight of Suckers Plant -1 The green weight of suckers plant -1 was determined by taking suckers from 10 plants randomly in each treatment and then dividing the total weight by the number of plants to get average. Dry Weight of Suckers Plant -1 On the basis of same data, dry weight of suckers plant -1 in each subplot was calculated by curing or drying the same number of suckers in a barn. Number of Leaves Plant -1 To record number of leaves plant -1, the leaves of ten plants in each subplot were counted and their mean was then calculated. Leaf Area (cm²) For leaf area, length and breadth of 5th, 10th and 15th leaf was measured. The average leaf size was computed from these three leaf positions by multiplying with a common factor of derived by Suggs et al. (1960). Leaf area = Leaf length x leaf breadth x Leaf Yield (kg ha -1 ) To record data concerning leaf yield, the weight of cured leaf in each treatment was taken after each picking. The total cured leaf yield was calculated by the following formula: Cured leaf weight (kg ha -1 ) =Cured leaf weight sub-plot -1 x m² Area harvested (16.2 m²)

3 Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 23, No. 1, Leaf Nicotine Content (%) Nicotine was determined by the method of Cundif and Markunas (1964). The nicotine contents were calculated by the following formula: V1 x N x x 100 Weight of the sample Whereas V1=Volume of titrant for non-acetylated aliquote, N=Normality of perchloric acid. Leaf Reducing Sugars (%) Reducing sugars percentage was estimated as follow: % Reducing Sugars = 25 x 100 x 0.05 Titrate x wt. of sample Data collected was analyzed according to RCB design and upon obtaining significant differences, least significant difference (LSD) test was employed (Steel and Torrie, 1980). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Number of Suckers Plant -1 Statistical analysis of the data revealed that suckericides had a significant (P < 0.01) effect on number of suckers plant 1. Maximum number of suckers plant 1 (10.32) was recorded in those plots where suckers were manually controlled followed by plots treated with Tamex (4.48 suckers plot -1 ) (Table I). While minimum number of suckers plant -1 was recorded in plots sprayed with Pendimethalin 33Ec which was at par with Stomp 330Ec and Pendimethalin 455Cs. These results suggest that chemical sucker control was more effective than manual desuckering. These results agree with those reported by Mahadevareddy et al. (1990) who concluded that best sucker control and leaf yields were obtained with the use of chemical suckericides. Green Weight of Suckers Plant -1 Number of suckers plant -1 was significantly (P<0.01) affected by different suckericides. It can be inferred from the data that maximum green weight of suckers plant -1 (314.8 g) was recorded in those plots where suckers were manually removed while minimum green weight (63.70 g) was recorded in those plots which were sprayed with Pendimethalin 33Ec (Table I). These results revealed that suckers were completely controlled with the application of different suckericides and had thus had provided the plants with more nutrients which otherwise would have been exploited by the suckers and hence increased green weight of suckers plant 1. Similar results are also reported by Gregor et al. (1992) who studied that application of C-malic hydrazid alone reduced sucker fresh weight by about 37%. Dry Weight of Suckers Plant 1 Analysis of the data revealed that different suckericides had a significant (P < 0.01) effect on dry weight of suckers plant 1. Maximum dry weight of suckers plant 1 was noted in plots treated with manual suckering (68.05 g) followed by plots (31.40 g suckers plant -1 ) treated with Tamex (Table I). It is also clear from the data shown in Table I that minimum dry weight (14.48 g) of suckers plant 1 was recorded in plots sprayed with Pendimethalin 33Ec which was at par with Stomp 330 Ec. Similar results were also reported by Patel et al. (1996) who investigated that chemical suckericides had a significant effect on suckers control and give minimum dry weight of suckers plant -1. Number of Leaves Plant 1 Number of leaves plant 1 was significantly (P<0.01) affected by different suckericides. It can be seen from the mean values in Table I that maximum number of leaves plant 1 were produced by plots sprayed with Pendimethalin 33Ec which were statistically non significantly different from plots sprayed with Stomp 330 Ec. Mean values of the data also revealed that minimum number of leaves plant 1 was recorded in plots where manual control was applied for suckers. It can be concluded from these results that sucker control diverted nutrients to the plant leaves and hence increased leaves plant 1 which are coincided with the results obtained by Long et al. (1990) who reported that chemicallytopped plants generally resulted in taller plants, greater number of leaves and shorter, narrower top leaves. Leaf Area Mean values of the data indicated that different suckericides had a significant (P < 0.01) effect on leaf area (Table II). Maximum leaf area of

4 Jehan Bakht, et al, Comparative effect of suckercidesn in FCV tobacco. 14 cm 2 was noted in plants sprayed with Pendimethalin 33Ec which was at par with Stomp 330 Ec and Pendimethalin 455 Cs. It is also clear from the data shown in Table II that minimum leaf area of cm 2 was recorded in plots treated with manual suckering. Similar results are also reported by Bowalska and Lis (1988) who observed that leaf area was maximum in plants treated with suckericides. Leaf Yield Statistical analysis of the data showed that leaf yield was significantly (P < 0.01) affected by suckers control through different suckericides (Table II). Mean values of the data indicated that maximum leaf yield of 3214 kg ha 1 was produced by those plots which were sprayed with Pendimethalin 33Ec followed by plots (3079 kg ha 1 ) sprayed with Stomp 330Ec. It can be also seen from the data that plots in which suckers were controlled manually produced minimum leaf yield (2812 kg ha 1 ) and was statistically non significant with plots sprayed with Tamex. Similar results were obtained by Rao et al. (1993) who reported that cured leaf yield was 3.21 t ha -1 with hand desuckering and with chemical treatments it ranged from 2.68 t with 3% Suckerout to 3.55 t with Accotab. Leaf Nicotine Content Low leaf nicotine content is an important characteristic of good quality tobacco. Analysis of the data revealed that leaf nicotine content was significantly (P<0.01) affected by different suckericides (Table II). Mean value of the data revealed that maximum leaf nicotine content (2.29%) was recorded from the leaves of those plots which were treated with Stomp 330Ec. It can be also seen from the data that plots sprayed with Pendimethalin 33Ec produced minimum nicotine content (1.96%) in the leaves when compared with other treatments. Similar results are also reported by Mahadevareddy et al. (1990) who reported that 10% ILTD mixture increased nicotine and reducing sugar contents and decreased N contents. Leaf Reducing Sugar Low reducing sugar is necessary for good quality tobacco. Data regarding reducing sugar is indicated in Table II. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that leaf reducing sugar was significantly (P<0.01) affected by different suckericides. It can be inferred from the data shown in Table II that leaf reducing sugar was maximum (12.36%) in leaves of those plots which were sprayed with Pendimethalin 455Cs followed by plots treated with Tamex (12.31%). Mean values of the data also showed that minimum leaf reducing sugar (11.23%) was noted in plots treated manually. Similar results are also reported by Mahadevareddy, et al. (1990) who investigated that 10% ILTD mixture increased nicotine and reducing sugar contents and decreased N contents. CONCLUSION Results obtained from the present study indicated that application of suckercides control suckers better than manual control. Among suckercides Pendimethalin 33 Ec performed better than the other suckercides in sucker control and producing good quality tobacco. Table I. Number of suckers plant 1, green weight (g) of suckers plant 1, dry weight of suckers plant -1 and number of leaves plant -1 of FCV tobacco variety speight G-28 as affected by different suckericides Suckercides Number of suckers plant -1 Green weight of suckers plant 1 (g) Dry weight of suckers plant -1 (g) Number of leaves plant -1 Tamex 4.48 b b b c Pendimethalin 33Ec 2.05 c d d a Stomp 330Ec 2.70 c cd cd ab Pendimethalin 455Cs 3.14 c c c bc Manual suckering a a a d LSD at P < Means of the same category followed by different letters are symficantly different from one another at P<0.01 using LSD test.

5 Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 23, No. 1, Table II Leaf area (cm 2 ), yield (kg ha -1 ) leaf nicotine content (%) and leaf reducing sugar (%) of FCV tobacco variety Speight G-28 as affected by different suckericides Suckercides Leaf area (cm 2 ) Leaf yield (kg ha -1 ) Leaf nicotine content (%) Leaf reducing sugar (%) Tamex b 2889 c 2.13 b a Pendimethalin 33Ec a 3214 a 1.96 d b Stomp 330Ec a 3079 b 2.29 a b Pendimethalin 455Cs a 3030 b 2.10 bc a Manual suckering b 2812 c 2.06 c c LSD at P < Means of the same category followed by different letters are significantly different from one another at p<0.01 using LSD test. REFERENCES Bawolska, M. and Z. Lis The importance of cultivar and of topping and suckering practices in the production of flue-cured tobacco grown at wide spacings. Pamietnik Pulawski. 92: Bhat, B.N., B.A.Yandagoudar, R.A. Hundekar, R. Satyanarayana and S. Rao Efficacy of certain suckericides for sucker control in bidi tobacco. Tobacco Res. 20: Cundif, R.H. and P.C. Markunas Determination of alkaloids. Tobacco Sci. VIII: Gregor, Z., K. Dubravec and M. Bajket Effect of growth retardants on sucker growth and development in burley tobacco. Poljoprivredna Znanstvena Smotra. 57: Janardhan, K.V., S.P. Nataraju and R.B. Gurumurthy Use of dinitroaniline group of compounds as sucker control agents in fluecured tobacco. Tobacco Res. 20: Liu, C.L., P. W. Hurng, S. S. Tuan, C. C. Hsu, and F. T. Wu The effects of chemicals and methods of application of suckering agents on sucker growth and quality in spring tobacco. Bulletin Taiwan Tobacco Research Inst.,Taiwan Tobacco-and-Wine Monopoly Bureau. 36: Long, R.S., L.J. Jones and A.C. Wilkinson Chemically topping mammoth cultivars of flue-cured tobacco. Tobacco International 192: Mahadevareddy, M., C.Y. Panchal, V.K. Janardhan, S. Manjunath and V.R. Koti Effects of different methods of application of suckericides on sucker growth, leaf yield and quality in bidi tobacco. J. Maharashtra Agric. Univ. 15: MINFAL Agriculture Statistic of Pakistan. Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Ecnomic Wing Islamabad. Patel, B.K., C.J. Chavda and J.D. Parmar Efficacy of different promising suckericides and their combinations for sucker control in bidi tobacco. Tobacco Res. 22: Patel, B. K., C.J. chavda, V.N. Upadhyay and H.C. Patel Sucker control in bidi tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) by neem oil emulsion. Tobacco Res. 16: Rao, C.P., K. Suryanarayana, D.A. Sarma and J. Rao Effect of suckericides on yield and quality of irrigated natu tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.). Tobacco Res. 19 : Steel, R.G.D. and J.H. Torrie Principles and procedures of statistics. McGraw Hill Book Co. Inc., New York. Sugges, C.W., F. Beeman and W.E. Splinter Physical properties of Virginia type tobacco leaves III. Relations of leaf length and width to leaf area. Tobacco Sci

6 Jehan Bakht, et al, Comparative effect of suckercidesn in FCV tobacco. 16