Plant growth promotingactivity of Stevia rebaudiana betroni on rice seedlings

Effect of different solvent extracts of dried leaves of Stevia rebaudiana Betroni on shoot and root length of rice seedlings in a pot experiment was studied at Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi. The extracts (hexane, dichloromethane and methanol) when applied at 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 mg ml⁻¹ concentrations showed significant increase in seed germination, shoot and root length after 15 days of application. Among all the extracts tested maximum increase was exhibited by hexane extract with an increase in root and shoot length 19.14 and 18.12% respectively as compared to control (9.4 and 13.8% respectively).