In India auxin, gibberellin and cytokinins are mostly used as plant growth regulators and there is limited use of the plant growth retardants but in many countries they have become an integral part of crop production system. American Society for Horticultural Science has listed chemical growth regulation as one of the eight major research priorities for horticultural sciences. The recent development of a number of highly active growth retardants have further enhanced the potential of chemical growth regulation in hortictdture. Paclobutrazol (pp 333), a triazole is one of the most important representatives. It is extensively studies due to its high potential for controlling plant growth and development. The available literatures on effect of paclobutrazol on seed treatment and seed germination, vegetative growth, flowering, fruit set and development; fruit yield, fruit quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses in horticultural crops have been reviewed in this paper.
