Vol. 7, Issue 12, Part C (2025)

A field experiment entitled “Effect of foliar spray of biostimulant on growth and yield of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.)” was conducted during Rabi 2024-25 at the Research Farm of Interfaculty Department of Irrigation water Management, Post Graduate Institute, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Dist. Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra, India with an objective of effect of biostimulant application on growth, yield and economics of chilli (Cv. Navtej) under open field conditions. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with 10 treatments replicated three times consisting of Absolute Control, GRDF (100:50:50 N: P₂O₅: K₂O kg ha-1+ FYM 25 t ha^-1), Soil drenching of biostimulant @ 1250 ml ha^-1 at just after transplanting, Soil drenching of biostimulant @ 1875 ml ha^-1 at just after transplanting, Single foliar spray of biostimulant @ 1 ml L^-1 at 15 DAT, Single foliar spray of biostimulant @ 2 ml L^-1 at 15 DAT, Single foliar spray of biostimulant @ 3 ml L^-1 at 15 DAT, Two foliar spray of biostimulant @ 1 ml L^-1 at 15 and 35 DAT, Two foliar spray of biostimulant @ 2 ml L^-1 at 15 and 35 DAT, Two foliar spray of biostimulant @ 3 ml L^-1 at 15 and 35 DAT where, RDF- Recommended dose of fertilizer and General recommended dose of fertilizer was common to all the treatment except absolute control treatment. Chilli crop was transplanted at 60 cm × 45 cm spacing. The irrigation was done as per climatological parameter. The results indicated that among the treatments, (two foliar sprays of biostimulant @ 3 ml L⁻¹ at 15 and 35 days after transplanting) recorded the significantly higher growth and yield contributing characters viz., Plant height, Number of branches, Number of leaves, Average number of fruits plant^-1, Average weight of fruit plant^-1 and Yield. This might be due to enhanced physiological processes and improved nutrient assimilation due to the synergistic effects of protein hydrolysates and seaweed bioactive compounds present in the biostimulant. In contrast, absolute control produced the lowest values for all evaluated traits. The same trend was observed in terms of economics. The study concludes that, application of general recommended dose of fertilizer (100:50:50 N: P₂O₅: K₂O kg ha^-1+ FYM 25 t ha^-1) + two foliar sprays of biostimulant @ 2 ml L^-1 at 15 and 35 days after transplanting recorded significantly higher yield of chilli and economically beneficial.