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Application of sesquiterpene (GA3) to spermology: a contradictory report

Fiza Khan, Mohd Mazid, Taqi Ahmed Khan, Saima Quddasi, Rajib Roychowdhury and Nooris Naqvi

Sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) is one of the fastest growing oil seed crops of India. It is highly desirable as a premium oil to supplement our oil seeds production, contributes about 24% of the domestic edible oil production and may substitute imports substantially, reduces the level of blood cholesterol and ultimately coronary heart diseases. The commercial cultivation of sunflower began in early seventies with a meagre area of 14 thousand hectares. It has gone up to 2.77 million hectares of the area with a production of 1.35 million tonnes in the year 2010. Gibberellic acid (GA3), a sesquiterpenoid chemical compound, is the first widely available active form of commercial gibberellins. GA3 improves growth physiology, cell elongation and cell differentiation thus augmenting plant height. Therefore, it is proposed to apply GA3 to chickpea to increase the stem height for better harvesting of solar energy for maximum utilization of its potential for seed production. However, this favourable effect on growth and development could be offset, at times, by substantial loss in yield due to lodging and poor rate of biological nitrogen (N2) fixation. To counter this, it is proposed to strengthen the fast growing stem and maximum production of nodules on root system by some means. Interestingly, the synthetic growth regulators bring about the more or less same plant responses when applied exogenously at very low concentrations.