Plant growth regulators are modern day chemicals used to boost the growth and yield of the plants. Whereas, strawberry is gaining popularity day by day due to its attractive shape, colour and sensual aroma. Not only it is high in flavours but also rich in natural antioxidants including carotenoids, phenols, flavonoids, dietary glutathione and endogenous metabolites. Ellagic acid is a plant phenol that occurs naturally in strawberry fruit. It has been discovered that eating its fruits on a regular basis can help to prevent cancer and asthma. Keeping all these points in mind the present study was planned at Khalsa College, Amritsar with seven treatments in year 2022-2023. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with three replications each. Procurement of healthy and cheap runners was major constraint during the study, which were brought from Solan, Himachal Pradesh. Moreover, lack of pollinators in protected structure was another issue which was sorted by artificial pollination using rope pulling. The results revealed that maximum plant height, number of leaves, petiole length, plant spread (E-W & N-S), Shoot weight (both fresh & dry), number of flowers, number of fruits, yield per plant, average root length, number of root tips, root volume and root weight (both fresh & dry) with foliar application of GA3 75 ppm. Whereas, maximum leaf area, fruit weight and minimum days to flowering were observed under the foliar application of NAA 50 ppm. Overall, it was concluded that GA3 75 ppm was best in improving shoot, root and yield attributes of strawberry.

Strawberry, NAA, GA3, TIBA, Growth, yield, correlation coefficient

Foliar application of various plant growth regulators was successful in improving shoot, root and yield attributes of strawberry as compared to control. But from all the plant growth regulators, NAA and GA3 was most successful in enhancing growth and yield of strawberry. Plants sprayed with NAA were first to flower and had higher leaf area and fruit weight. Whereas, GA3 application significantly increased plant height, root length, average number of root tips, number of leaves, petiole length, number of flowers, number of runners and yield per plant.

Singh A., Singh M. and Singh P. (2023). Influence of Plant Growth Regulators on Root, Shoot and Yield Attributes of Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) under Protected Conditions. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(11): 136-142.