Growth Performance of Black Pepper (P. nigrum) Cuttings in Different Rooting Media and Growth Regulators

Abstract

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is recognized as "Black Gold" and "King of Spices" because of its widespread use in culinary preparation, food flavoring, and condiment seasoning. It has worldwide fragrance and medical use. The purpose of the conducted research was to investigate growth performance of P. nigrum cuttings in various rooting media and growth regulators concentrations in a low-cost non-mist propagation chamber at the Agroforestry Field Laboratory, Department of Agroforestry and Environmental Science, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet during the period starting from August 2019 to June' 2020. The experiment consisted of two factors: different rooting media and different concentrations of growth regulator, IBA (Indole 3-Butyric Acid). Under the first factor, there were four treatments, namely M1= biochar, M2= vermicompost, M3= well-decomposed cow dung, and M4= field soil as control. Under the second factor, there were four treatments, namely R1= 0.2%, R2= 0.4% and R3= 0.8%, and R4= 0.0% of IBA. The whole experiment was designed in a factorial RCBD (Randomized Complete Block Design) with three replications. Among the different media, M1 treatment (biochar) exhibited superior performance concerning vine length and the number of nodes per vine. On the other hand, R2 treatment (0.4%) concentration of IBA showed better performance regarding the number of roots and vine length. The research found that the growth performance of P. nigrum cuttings are accelerated through integrating rooting media and growth regulators. Consequently, the demand for planting materials could be met.