Effect of Different IBA Levels on Growth and Rooting of Semi- Hardwood Cuttings in Pomegranate cv. Kandhari

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a highly valued fruit crop known for its nutritional and medicinal properties belonging to family Punicaceae. This study aims to investigate the effect of Indole-3- butyric acid on growth rooting of semi hardwood cuttings in Pomegranate cv. Kandhari, conducted at the Experimental Farm of Department of Seed Science & Technology, Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry Nauni, Solan, HP, India during 2022-2023. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (Factorial) with twelve treatment combinations replicated thrice, comprising of four IBA levels (0, 1000, 1500 and 2000 ppm) and three cutting segments (top, middle and basal). Among different levels of IBA, the treatment IBA @ 2000 ppm exhibited significantly higher per cent sprouting (60.00 %), number of shoot per cutting (5.21), shoot length (22.16 cm), shoot diameter (4.56 mm), number of leaves per cutting (14.78), leaf area (7.32 cm2), leaf chlorophyll content (6.03 mg g-1), fresh weight of shoots (7.24 g), dry weight of shoots (4.93 g), per cent rooting (58.89 %), number of roots per cutting (12.02), maximum root length (14.14 cm), fresh weight of roots (3.35 g), dry weight of roots (1.59 g) and biomass of cuttings (6.51 g). Among cutting segments, basal segment resulted in significantly increased per cent sprouting (56.67 %), number of shoots per cuttings (5.54), shoot length ( 21.86 cm), shoot diameter (4.46 mm), number of leaves per cutting (16.30), leaf area (8.68 cm2), leaf chlorophyll content (6.22), fresh (8.04 g) and dry weight of shoots (4.85 g), per cent rooting (60.42 %), number of roots per cutting (13.89), maximum root length (14.54 cm), fresh (3.63 g) and dry weight of roots (1.79 g) and biomass of cuttings (6.64 g). Therefore, it is concluded that the application of IBA-2000 ppm and basal segment of semi hardwood cutting of Pomegranate cv. Kandhari; shows the best result for all parameters like, per cent sprouting, number of shoot per cuttings, shoot diameter and length, numbers of leaves par cutting, fresh and dry weight of shoot, number of leaves per cuttings, leaf area, rooting percentage of cutting, length of roots, fresh and dry weight of roots, number of roots per cutting, biomass of cuttings. This research has been recognized as practical application by nursery man of pomegranate for preparation of better quality planting materials along with better survivability.