Impact of growth regulating compounds on leaf area index in transplanted rice under moisture stress condition

Field investigations were conducted in the Wetland Farm, Department of Farm Management, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu during rabi and summer seasons of 2016–17 and 2017–18 to assess the performance of growth regulating compounds for mitigating induced moisture stress on the growth and yield of transplanted rice. Experiments were laid out in split plot design with three replications. The treatments comprised induced water stress at different growth stages viz panicle initiation, flowering, both panicle initiation and flowering and moisture stress-free control (irrigating the field with 5 cm depth of irrigation one day after disappearance of previously-ponded water) in main plots and foliar application of growth regulating compounds in sub-plots viz chlormequat chloride 200 ppm, mepiquat chloride 200 ppm, brassinolide 0.1 ppm, pink pigmented facultative methylotrophs (PPFM 1%) and control (no spray). The treatment combination of moisture stress-free control with foliar spraying of PPFM (1%) recorded higher leaf area index (LAI) at flowering and harvest and it was on par with brassinolide (0.1 ppm).