Indian Journal of Ecology

Field experiment was carried out during 2017-18 and 2018-19 at Regional Research Station, Bawal, Haryana, India to examine the consequences of different levels of irrigation and anti-transpirants application on mustard crop. The experiment had three irrigation levels (I1: control, I2: one irrigation at 40 DAS, I3: two irrigation at 40 and 75 DAS), and two varieties (V1: RH-725, V2: RH-749) in main plots, whereas, four anti-transpirants (A1: control, A2 : PMA @ 250 ppm at 45 and 90 DAS, A3 : 6 % kaolin at 45 and 90 DAS and A4: PMA @ 250 ppm + 6% kaolin at 45 and 90 DAS) in sub plots. The different irrigation levels and anti-transpirants significantly influenced the performance of RH-749 and RH-725 mustard varieties. Growth attributes such as plant height, number of primary and secondary branches per plant, dry matter accumulation, crop growth rate, relative growth rate, leaf area index, leaf area duration and number of days for maturity of mustard significantly in two irrigation at 40 and 75 DAS (At pre-bloom + pod filling stage) as compared to control (no post-sowing irrigation) irrigation level. In the case of anti-transpirants, highest growth attributes and number of days taken to physiological maturity of mustard was recorded in A4 as compared to A1 but it was at par with A3 anti-transpirants. Among the varieties, RH-749 performed better compared to RH-725 variety under different treatments. The interaction between I3 irrigation level and A4 anti-transpirants was significantly superior as compared to others. Moreover, mustard yield was significantly and positive correlated with different growth attributes.