Effect of paclobutrazol on source-sink relationship in mango (Mangifera indica L.)

Abstract

In two irregular bearing mango cultivars “Alphonso” and “Dashehari”, restricting the number of supporting leaves per fruit to thirty by girdling, resulted in significant reduction in fruit growth and development. Fruit weight in such case for the two cultivars were 60.20% and 64.90%, respectively of control fruits, which were not isolated from the rest of the tree by girdling. However, in case of trees treated with Paclobutrazol as soil drenching either at 7.5 or 2.5g/tree, there was no significant reduction in fruit growth even with only thirty supporting leaves per fruit. Paclobutrazol seems to alter the source-sink relationship in mango to support fruit growth with lesser number of leaves, which could be a reason for enhanced fruit yield even with suppressed vegetative growth observed earlier in response to treatment with chemical.