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Preparation, optimization, and testing of biostimulant formulations as stress management tools and foliar applications on brinjal and onion for growth and yield

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Abstract

Not only would the application of biostimulant formulations boost vegetable yields under typical and different biotic stress circumstances, but it will also be user and ecologically friendly. Due to their hydrophobic character and huge molecular volumes, the production of highly stable (~ 2 years shelf-life) emulsifiable concentrate (EC) formulations is the bottleneck of plant growth regulator uses. Gibberellic acid (0.25% EC) and Brassinolide (0.15% EC) were developed using a variety of solvents [solvent naphtha (C9), toluene, dimethyl sulfoxide] and surfactants (calcium alkylbenzene sulfonate, nonylphenol ethoxylate-13). Emulsification (spontaneous), detergency, and quick wetting performance were all outstanding in laboratory adjusted phytohormone formulations (E). Highly stable oil in water emulsions with exceptional compatibility (without phase separation) and outstanding emulsion stability (24 h) have been created using secondary alcohol ethoxylates and sulfonate anionic (5:5), which are affected by the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value (12.52) and type of nonionic and anionic surfactants. The hormone content fluctuation was also estimated to be appropriate using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) (5.0%). Single and double dosed applications of 450 and 900 mL ha−1 in brinjal (muktakeshi) and 180 and 360 mL ha−1 in onion (sukhsagar) have significantly improved growth and yields above control (untrated) plants. Gibberellic acid boosted brinjal yields by 37.5%, while Brassinolide raised onion yields by 33.9%. Plant growth regulator formulations that have been thoroughly developed and evaluated might be a big step toward environmentally friendly agricultural production.

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The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Agro-Chemical Formulation Laboratory and All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues, Department of Agricultural Chemicals, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (BCKV), Nadia, West Begal, India, for providing the facilities for this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Chemicals, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, 741235, India

    Subhajit Ruidas, Arka Gangopadhyay, Rounak Saha, Kanad Mukherjee & Dipak Kumar Hazra

  2. Department of Plant Physiology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, 741252, India

    Snehashis Karmakar

  3. Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, PalliSiksha Bhavana (Institute of Agriculture), Visva-Bharati, Sriniketan, Birbhum, West Bengal, 731236, India

    Aloke Purkait

  4. Regional Research Station (Terai Zone), Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Coochbehar, West Bengal, 736165, India

    Prithusayak Mondal

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  1. Subhajit Ruidas
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Contributions

SR, SK and PM: Development of emulsifiable concentrate formulations, their physicochemical parameters study, and preparation of manuscript. AG and RS: Application in the field, bio-efficacy study, sampling, interpretation of data; AP: Critical examination and expert opinion; DKH: Provided the concept of this innovative research work and supervised till the end of the work and finally examined the prepared manuscript; KM: Captured all the pictures AND literature review and expert view. The research article was co-authored by all authors, who sent their approval to the final edition.

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Correspondence to Dipak Kumar Hazra.

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Ruidas, S., Karmakar, S., Purkait, A. et al. Preparation, optimization, and testing of biostimulant formulations as stress management tools and foliar applications on brinjal and onion for growth and yield. Chem. Pap. 76, 6141–6152 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-022-02318-6

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