EFFECT OF INDOLEBUTYRIC ACID (IBA) AND PLANTING TIMES ON THE GROWTH AND ROOTING OF PEACH CUTTINGS

Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 23, No. 3, 2007 EFFECT OF INDOLEBUTYRIC ACID (IBA) AND PLANTING TIMES ON THE GROWTH AND ROOTING OF PEACH CUTTINGS Muhammad Parvez *, Muhammad Zubair *, Mir Saleem **, Kashif Wali * and Mohabat Shah * ABSTRACT An experiment "Effect of Indolebutyric acid (IBA) and planting times on the growth and rooting of peach cuttings" was carried out at the Agricultural Research Institute (ARI), Tarnab, Peshawar during 2005. Peach cuttings were planted on 10th January, 10th February, 10th March and were treated with 0, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 IBA. Among the planting time 10th January proved to be superior regarding number of branches plant -1 (5.68), shoot length (30.31 cm), number of roots plant -1 (13.00), root length (13.37 cm), root weight (9.35 g) and plant survival (54.28%). IBA concentrations increased the growth parameters irrespective of planting time. Planting time x IBA levels interaction showed that maximum number of branches plant - 1 (8.55), number of roots plant -1 (23.00), root length (19.62 cm), root weight (13.25 g), and plant survival (85.71%) were observed in cuttings treated with 2000 IBA, planted on 10th January. INTRODUCTION Peach (Prunus persica L.) is commonly used as a rootstock for peach, plum, apricot, almond and nectarine in Peshawar (NWFP). Peach rootstock has quick growth as compare to other stone fruit plants and it is compatible to almost all the stone fruits. The bud union is strong and long lived. Peach rootstock can influence tree size, productivity, cold hardiness, and tree longevity (Mahmood, 1994). According to Agricultural Statistics of Pakistan (2003-04) stone fruits occupied 60477 hectares of land in Pakistan and producing 375302 tons of fruits, while in NWFP it covers an area of 11040 hectares and producing 120209 tones of fruits. According to Muhammad (1998) rootstock to be utilized in modern plantations must have the following characteristics. The rootstock should be well vigorous free from insect, diseases, resistant to soil pathogens, tolerant to adverse soil conditions such as flooding, salinity or alkalinity and resistant to cold hardiness. Stone fruit such as peach, plum, apricot, almond and nectarine are propagated through graftage. The rootstock which is used for aforementioned stone fruits is propagated through seeds. Seeds are sown in November. The seedling are grafted or budded when these are of pencil size thickness. Propagation of stone fruit through seeds has low germination due to its hard covers and immature embryo. The seedling rootstocks are not true to type. It takes a long time to germinate. Secondly peach stone are not only expensive but not available in the market on commercial basis. To overcome this problem, the current study was conducted at the experimental field of Agricultural Research Institute (ARI), Tarnab, Peshawar during January, 2005 with objective to investigate the rooting response of hard wood cuttings of peach to IBA concentrations and to different planting times. MATERIALS AND METHODS The research study "Effect of Indolebutyric acid (IBA) and planting times on the growth and rooting of peach cuttings" was conducted at the experimental field of Agricultural Research Institute (ARI), Tarnab, Peshawar during 2005. The cuttings were taken from base (hard wood) of one year old shoots peach cv. Peshawar local. The cuttings were dipped for five min. in each concentration of IBA solution and were planted in sand + clay medium in flats beds and were covered with plastic sheet. The experiment was laid down in Randomize Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 2 factors split plot arrangement. The planting times were taken in main plots, while IBA concentrations were applied as sub plots. There were three planting times i.e. 10th January, 10th February and 10th March and 5 levels of IBA concentrations i.e. 0, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 IBA. There were 15 treatments, each treatment consisted of 10 cuttings. The experiment was replicated three times and hence the experiment consisted of 450 cuttings. The parameters studied during the course of the experiment were: number of branches plant -1, shoot length (cm), number of roots plant -1, root length (cm), root weight (g) and plant survival percentage. * ** Department of Horticulture, NWFP Agricultural University Peshawar - Pakistan Agriculture Research Institute, Tarnab, Peshawar - Pakistan

Effect of Indole Butyric Acid (IBA) and planting time 588 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION It is important to discuss briefly the prevailing humidity and temperature before interpreting and discussing the actual results. The maximum humidity remained almost the same but there was a greater variation in minimum relative humidity. However, both maximum and minimum air temperature were increasing with the passage of time during the experiment and reached maximum at 46 0 C a month before the end of the experiment (Fig.1 and Fig.2). Number of branches plant -1 Table I revealed that maximum number of branches plant -1 (5.68) were recorded in plants planted on 10th January, while minimum number of branches plant -1 (3.56) were observed in plants planted on 10th March. IBA concentrations showed that number of branches increased with increasing level of IBA. Maximum number of branches plant -1 (6.78) was averaged across time cuttings treated with 2000 mgl - 1 IBA and minimum number of branches (1.62) were recorded in control. As evident from Table 1, as IBA concentration increased from 0 to 2000 significantly (P 0.01) number of branches also increased. Regardless of planting time, Maximum number of branches (8.55) were noted in cuttings planted on 10th January, treated with 2000 IBA, while minimum number of branches (1.30) were noted in plants planted on 10th March in control. This can be attributed to the fact that 2000 IBA enabled the cuttings to develop stronger, healthy and more roots, so more absorption of nutrient. The planting date 10th January provided an opportunity to the plant to absorb these nutrient for longer time and prepare more photosynthates. This more food enabled the plants to develop more branches and perform better than the rest of the treatments and dates. Shoot length (cm) Table II shows that maximum shoot length (30.31 cm) was observed in plants planted on 10th January, whereas minimum shoot length (16.27 cm) was observed in plants planted on 10th March. Since the plants were uprooted on the same day, cutting planted earlier had longer life period for growth and development. This longer life period enabled the plants to utilize the resources for longer period as a result shoot length was increased. Maximum shoot length (30.94 cm) was recorded in cuttings treated with 2000 IBA, while minimum shoot length (13.33 cm) was observed in control when averaged across planting time. The best performance was noted in cuttings treated with 2000 mgl -1. As IBA is growth promoter, it increases cell division which result in early rooting leading to efficient absorption and hence maximum shoot length. These results are in agreement with Noor et al. (1995), who reported that cuttings of apple rootstock M-26 and M-27 treated with IBA at 3000 increased shoot length. Number of roots plant -1 The interaction of different planting times and IBA concentrations indicated that maximum number of roots (23.00) was noticed in plants planted on 10th January treated with 2000 IBA, while minimum number of roots (2.33) was observed in plants planted on 10th March in control. Maximum number of roots might be due to the fact that these plants took long time and favourable climatic condition like humidity and temperature as compared to other planting dates. IBA concentrations also increase cell walls elasticity and thus accelerated cell division which lead to the production of more number of roots. These results are in agreement with Bal et al. (2000) who reported that plum cuttings treated with IBA at 3000 gave best rooting when taken on 15th January. Root length (cm) It is evident from Table IV that the interaction of planting times and IBA indicated that maximum root length (19.62 cm) was observed in plants planted on 10th January treated with 2000 IBA, which was higher than 10th February and higher than 10th March, while minimum root length (3.25 cm) was observed in plants planted on 10th March in control. The possible reason for maximum roots length might be due to the fact that roots of a longer period will grow longer as compared to shorter period. For IBA concentrations, 2000 mgl -1 IBA promoted early rooting, quick cell division as compared to other concentrations and hence lengthy roots. These results are in agreement with Panwar et al. (1999) who reported that IBA at 2000 increased root length in Bougainvillea cuttings. Root weight (g) data in Table V indicated that the interaction showed that maximum root weight (13.25 g) was observed in plants planted on 10th January treated with 2000 mgl -1 IBA, while minimum root weight (3.25 g) was observed in plants planted on 10th March in control. Maximum root weight might be due to the fact that in these plants produced longer and more number of roots on 10th January in 2000 IBA on this concentration. Plant survival percentage

Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 23, No. 3, 2007 589 Interaction showed that maximum plant survival (85.71%) was recorded in plants planted on 10th January treated with 2000 IBA, whereas minimum plant survival (14.28%) was recorded in plants planted on 10th March treated with 500 IBA and 10th January, 10th February and 10th March in control. Cuttings planted on 10th January developed and established their roots prior to leaves development and leaf expansion which results in maximum survival percentage on 10th January as compared to 10th March. Similarly 2000 IBA results in quick root establishment which reduce the chance of death due to wilting by transpiration and hence more plant survival was recorded in 10th January. These results are in agreement with Reighart et al. (1990) who recommended that peach cuttings treated with IBA at 2000 increased survival percentage of the cuttings. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS It is concluded that planting time 10th January gave maximum survival percentage as compared to other times, while 2000 IBA concentration produced significant results in all the parameters which have been studied during the experiment. On the basis of above conclusion, it is recommended that planting time 10th January and 2000 IBA is suitable for peach cuttings, under the agro-climatic conditions of Peshawar. However, one year research is not enough to produce much substantial results on the basis of which one can make more solid recommendation, therefore, further research is suggested. Percentage 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Temperature in celsius 12345678910 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Fig 1. Daily relative humidity Fig2. Daily air temperature air temp Max air temp Min Months Max Min Table I. Effect of IBA concentrations and planting times on number of branches plant -1 of peach cuttings. 0 2.00 I 1.55 IJ 1.30 J 1.62 E 500 4.50 F 3.85 G 3.00 H 3.78 D 1000 5.85 D 4.90 EF 3.85 G 4.87 C 1500 7.50 B 5.70 D 4.37 FG 5.87 B 2000 8.55 A 6.50 C 5.30 DE 6.78 A 5.68 A 4.50 B 3.56 C LSD value at P 0.01 for time = 0.422 LSD value at P 0.01 for = 0.3203 LSD value at P 0.01 for interaction = 0.5547 s value of the same category followed by different letters are significant at P 0.01 level.

Effect of Indole Butyric Acid (IBA) and planting time 590 Table II. Effect of IBA concentrations and planting times on shoot length (cm) of peach cuttings. 0 17.66 13.66 8.66 13.33 D 500 30.48 22.03 15.33 22.61 BC 1000 30.03 23.00 18.66 20.43 C 1500 33.46 17.59 13.66 25.05 B 2000 39.91 27.89 25.00 30.94 A 30.31 A 20.84 B 16.27 B LSD value at P 0.01 for time = 4.985 LSD value at P 0.01 for = 3.851 s value of the same category followed by different letters are significant at P 0.01 level. Table III. Effect of IBA concentrations and planting times on number of roots plant -1 of peach cuttings. 0 6.00 F-I 3.33 HI 2.33 I 3.88 D 500 9.66 DEF 8.33 D-G 5.66 GHI 7.88 C 1000 12.00 CD 9.66 DEF 6.33 E-H 9.33 BC 1500 16.00 B 11.00 D 5.66 GHI 10.89 B 2000 23.00 A 15.00 BC 10.00 DE 16.00 A 13.00 A 9.46 B 6.00 C LSD value at P 0.01 for time = 0.8115 LSD value at P 0.01 for = 2.171 LSD value at P 0.01 for interaction= 3.760 s value of the same category followed by different letters are significant at P 0.01 level.

Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 23, No. 3, 2007 591 Table IV. Effect of IBA concentrations and planting times on root length (cm) of peach cuttings. 0 5.90 H 4.57 I 3.25 J 4.57 E 500 10.70 E 9.20 F 6.25 H 8.72 D 1000 14.00 CD 10.80 E 7.45 G 10.75 C 1500 16.65 B 13.70 D 8.50 FE 12.95 B 2000 19.62 A 14.65 C 11.25 E 15.17 A 13.37 A 10.58 B 7.34 C LSD value at P 0.01 for time = 0.6085 LSD value at P 0.01 for = 0.4808 LSD value at P 0.01 for interaction = 0.8328 s value of the same category followed by different letters are significant at P 0.01 level. Table V. Effect of IBA concentrations and planting times on root weight (g) of peach cuttings. 0 4.50 F 3.70 FG 3.25 G 3.81 E 500 7.76 D 5.80 E 4.50 F 6.02 D 1000 9.70 C 7.50 D 5.55 E 7.58 C 1500 11.54 B 9.85 C 7.50 D 9.65 B 2000 13.25 A 11.00 B 9.25 C 11.16 A 9.35 A 7.50 B 6.02 C LSD value at P 0.01 for time = 0.6108 LSD value at P 0.01 for = 0.5388 LSD value at P 0.01 for interaction = 0.9332 s value of the same category followed by different letters are significant at P 0.01 level.

Effect of Indole Butyric Acid (IBA) and planting time 592 Table VI. Effect of IBA concentrations and planting times on plant survival percentage of peach cuttings. 0 14.28 F 14.28 F 14.28 F 14.28 E 500 42.85 D 28.57 E 14.28 F 28.56 D 1000 57.14 C 42.85 D 28.57 E 42.85 C 1500 71.42 B 57.14 C 42.85 D 57.13 B 2000 85.71 A 71.42 B 57.14 C 71.42 A 54.28 A 42.85 B 28.56 C LSD value at P 0.01 for time = 0.7518 LSD value at P 0.01 for = 1.285 LSD value at P 0.01 for interaction = 2.226 s value of the same category followed by different letters are significant at P 0.01 level. REFERENCES Bal, J.S., S.S. Sandhawalia, M. Herregods, P. Boxus, W. Baets, and A. Jager. 2000. Studies on propagation of subtropical plum. Proceed. of the XXV Int l Hort. Cong. Part 7. Quality of Horticultural Products: Brussels, Belgium. Acta Hort. 517:151-158. Mahmood, N.M. 1994. Horticulture; Establishment of gardens. National Book Foundation, Islamabad. 301p. Mahmood, N.M. 1994. Horticulture; Fruit crops. National Book Foundation, Islamabad. 477p. MINFAL 2003-04. Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Food, Agric. and Livestock, Econ. Wing, Islamabad. Muhammad, S. 1998. Plant propagation its art and science; Budding. Deptt. of Hort. NWFP Agric. Univ. Peshawar. pp.138-139. Noor, B.S., N. Rahman, and M. Zubair. 1995. Effect of Indolebutyric acid (IBA) on the cutting of M-26 and M-27 apple rootstock. Sarhad J. Agric. 11(4): 449-453. Panwar, R.D., A.K. Gupta, R.Yamdagni, and R.S. Saini. 1999. Effect of growth regulators on the rooting of cuttings of Bougainvillea cv. Thimma. Haryana Agric. Univ. J. and Res. 29(1-2): 11-17.