Assessing Impact of Manual Topping and Suckericide Application at Different Stages on FCV Tobacco Quality and Yield

Abstract

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) topping is one of the essential practice to obtain good quality and adequate yield. The suckericide (Flumetralin as a best herbicide and plant growth regulator). For the purpose to compare topping as manual and herbicide application the experiment was conducted on flue cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco at Tobacco Research Station, Khan Ghari, Mardan during 2021-2022. The experiment was conducted in RCB design with three replications and five treatments (Control, Manual de-suckering, 1000, 1200, 1500 ml of Flumetralin ha-1). Treatments were applied at three stages (button stage, early flowering stage and late flowering stage). The data revealed that topping timing and maximum dose (1500 ml ha-1) of (Flumetralin) resulted maximum (896 cm-2) leaf area, less number (14) of sucker plant-1, lower (132 g) green weight and dry weight (20.30 g) of sucker plot-1, more cured weight (5.08 kg) of leaves plot-1 and maximum yield (3038) kg ha-1, lower nicotine contents (2.26) and less sugar contents (16.24) at button stage. Moreover, Flumetralin application on at button stage resulted less sucker growth and enhanced leaf yield. I suggest that the tobacco K399 with the application of suckericide and growth regulator (Flumetralin) have the potential to incorporate in further breeding program for low content of nicotine, reduced sugar content and high yield.