KHALSA COLLEGE, AMRITSAR

SYNOPSIS FOR RESEARCH (THESIS)

OF
M.Sc. Ag. (AGRONOMY)

Name of student - Ritish Badhwar

Father’s Name - Anil Kumar

Mother’s Name - Manisha

Title of Study - “To study the effect of phenolics

compounds to mitigate the impact of
frost on potato crop”

Major subject - Agronomy

Minor subject - Soil Science

Name of Supervisor - Prof. Sarabjit Singh

Place/Station of Research - P.G. dept of Agriculture, Khalsa

College, Amritsar

Uni. Registration Number - 2019.K /A.2110

Period of Research - 2024-2025

Year of Admission in M.Sc. - September- 2023

Status of candidate - Fresh

Student Head Supervisor

CERTIFICATE
It is certified that the information given above is corrected to the best of my knowledge and belief
that the synopsis is in accordance with the university rules and regulations.

Date Principal
 Introduction

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is known as King of Vegetables. It produces substantially more
edible energy, carbohydrates (20.6%), protein (5.64%), fat (0.3%), crude fibre (1.1%), minerals and
vitamin C. Year 2008 was declared as the international year of by united nations (FAO 2008). Apart
from being eaten as vegetable it is also widely used in the production of starch and alcohol.
India is second largest producer of potato in the world after china with production of 59.74
million metric tonnes from an area of 2.35 million hectare with average yield of 25.4 metric tonnes.
Potato consumption per capita in India is 25.4 kg in 2022. Potato possesses all the virtue to be a
potential crop. The top 10 important states of India for potato production are Uttar Pradesh (30%), West
Bengal (23.5%), Bihar (17%), Gujarat (7%), Madhya Pradesh (6.68%), Punjab (5.50%), Haryana,
Assam, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Punjab is 6th leading producer state of potatoes in India. Most
important potato growing districts are Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr with
production 3.156 million metric tonnes over area of 0.11 million hectares and average productivity of
28.6 tonnes/hectare (MoA &FW(b) 2023).
Although production of potato is very high in India but its availability is less throughout the
year. Many abiotic stresses especially frost is one of the biggest factors that hinders the growth of potato
in Punjab. Severe damage of foliage occurs when temperature drops below 0°C (Hijmans et al 2003).
Frost affects the overall quality and yield of tubers. The flesh of tubers exposed to freezing temperatures
may turn gray or reddish brown. Freezing temperatures may also cause ice crystals to form in the
internal cells. Affected tissues become liquid, and the vascular ring may break down completely. Frozen
tissue may dry out and become tough or chalky. Freezing injury usually occurs on one end or the side of
the tuber that is closest to the soil surface, usually the bud end, and symptoms are easily seen on the
tuber surface (Wassan et al 2021).
Potato requires long days and low temperature for its flowering and is restricted to its
temperature requirement for tuber formation. Optimum tuber formation takes place at 20 oC. Increase in
temperature above 21oC cause sharp reduction in the tuber yield and at 30 oC complete inhibition of
tuber formation occurs (Shekhawat 2001). The entire phase from emergence to tuber initiation is
photosensitive. Short photoperiods favour early tuber initiation. However, under drought stress
conditions tuber initiation and maturity is hastened (Beukema and Van der Zaag 1990). It requires cool
night temperature to induce tuberization. Potato is well known for its specific temperature and day
length requirement for tuber formation as well as flowering, so it becomes the most vulnerable crop for
climate change.

In the recent year, Potato farmers in the northern parts of the country have suffered heavy crop
losses due to ground frost owing to the fall in temperatures in the last week. While potato crop has
suffered the maximum damage, ground frost has also affected other vegetable crops and mustard across
fields in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In some fields, the damage
has been between 30-40 per cent. For farmers who planted some of the late varieties, sown in late
November or early December, the damage has been as high as 80 per cent of the crop.
Frost can be managed with the help of growth regulators. Plant growth regulators are the
chemical substances which govern all the factors of development and growth within plants. The plant
growth regulators have been reported to influence growth and play a significant role in increasing the
yield by 10-15% by suppressing or stimulating plant growth (Sukumaran 2000). Application of
gibberellic acid (GA) has been commonly used to improve emergence and influence stem and tuber
number. The growth inhibitors daminozide and chlormequat chloride promote tuberization and
significantly reduce the height of potato plants. Some hormones are known to play important roles in the
plant response to cold stress, such as salicylic acid (Chen et al 2022). Auxins and cytokinin influence
tuber size, whereas ethylene inhibits tuber induction in vivo or may cause the swelling of stolons
without starch in vitro (Mingo-Castel et al 1976). Tuber yields were not affected by exogenous
application of BA or IAA (Corsini et al 1989). Cytokinin are essential for cell division in developing
sprouts and the exogenous application of cytokinin to tubers may reduce the duration of tuber
dormancy, depending on the physiological age of the tuber (Coleman et al 1987).

Keeping the above view in mind, the present study entitled as " To study the effect of phenolics
compounds to mitigate the impact of frost on potato crop " is planned with following objectives.

OBJECTIVES

 To study the effect of different phenolic compound on potato growth and yield.
 To find out suitable concentration of phenolics compounds to ameliorate the impact of frost
 Review of literature

Effects of growth regulators on potato development and yield

Chen et al (1982) conducted an experiment to observed the involvement of abscisic

acid in potato cold acclimatization. Red pontaic potatoes are treated with abscisic acid.
Results showed that treated plants showed higher content of leaf soluble protein and
induction of frost hardiness in leaves of plant when plants were grown under 20 to 2ºC
temperature regime.
Shah et al (1996) conducted research to study the effect of fertilizer levels and plant
growth on yield and growth attributes of potato. The results concluded that significant
differences were observed in plant height, number of leaves per plant, dry haulm yield and
tuber yield of potato due to fertility as well as growth regulator treatments except number of
leaves by PGRs. It was suggested that to improve crop yield, it should be sprayed with
500ppm cycocel.
Alexopoulos et al (2006) concluded that BA (Benzoic acid), IAA (Indole acetic
acid) and 2,4-D did not affect plant development, tuberization or the physiological age of
the tubers produced. Daminozide and CCC reduced plant height when applied 30 but not 60
days after transplanting (DAT). Early application of GA3 also increased tuber sprouting
prior to harvest, it had no effect on sprouting, respiration and weight loss after harvest.
Application of GA3 early in the vegetative cycle is useful for the production of mini-tubers
for propagation, whereas application at a later stage aid in early planting by accelerating the
breaking of tuber dormancy.
Birbal et al (2009) conducted study at central potato research station, Gwalior to
study the effect of foliar application of PGRs on growth, yield and post-harvest losses of
potato. Various PGRs were sprayed on "Kufri Ashoka" cultivar of potato. Results concluded
that GA3, NAA, TIBA and ethrel increased seed size tubers as well as total tuber yield.
Minimum rottage losses were observed with NAA spray for short term storage after harvest.
At the end of storage dry matter increment was observed with treatments of TIBA, ethel and
NAA.
Kumar et al (2011) conducted an experiment at Central potato research institute,
Meerut, UP to study the rehabilitation of frosted potato crop through plant growth
regulators. 100 ppm GA3 and 125 ppm cycocel were employed to check the excess growth
of foliage and promote re-growth of leaf and stem. The results shown that dry weight of
leaves, stem and tuber size and yield increased positively.
Araujo et al (2019) conducted research at Federal University of Vicosa, Brazil to
study the Changes on Potato Leaf Metabolism and Anatomy Induced by Plant Growth
Regulators. Potato plants were treated with paclobutrazol (PBZ) at 0.125 and 0.250 L per ha
and trinexapac-ethyl (TE) at 1.0 and 2.0 L per ha. The results concluded that treatment with
PBZ reduced the height of potato plants, which resulted in higher index of leaf chlorophyll
and reduced the content of starch. Both PBZ and TE treated plants exhibited anatomical
changes in the leaves, including larger epidermal cells and more elongated palisades cells.
Kumlay et al (2021) compared the effects of medium containing 0.1 mg per L
gibberellic acid (GA3) and α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) in combination with 2.0 mg per
L of kinetin (KIN), 2.0 mg per L of benzyl aminopurine (BAP), 1.0 mg per L of zeatin
riboside (ZR), and 0.5 mg per L of jasmonic acid (JA) for the micropropagation
development in potato. The results concluded that inclusion of JA among the other plant
growth regulators significantly increased shoot regeneration and other characteristics as
compared to other PGRs.
Kołodziejczyk et al (2022) conducted a study at University of Agriculture in
Krakow, Krakow, Poland to study the effect of plant growth regulators on potato tuber yield
and quality. Asahi SL, Kelpak SL, Aminoplant, Tytanit, gibberellic acid (GA3) and Moddus
250 EC were applied on vineta cultivar of potato. The application of bio stimulants Asahi
SL and Tytanit increased the total and marketable tuber yield, as well as the average tuber
weight. Amino plant had a beneficial effect only on the marketable yield, while Moddus 250
EC decreased tuber yield and mean tuber weight. Bio-stimulant Asahi SL caused a decrease
in the number of tubers formed, while gibberellic acid stimulated tuberization
Ahmed et al (2022) conducted research at Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural
Research, Ethiopia to study the quality components of Potato Tubers as affected by Plant
Growth Regulators. The study evaluated the effect of three PGRs viz. Gibberrelic Acid
(GA3), Benzyladenine (BA) and Benzylamino purine (BAP) at two concentrations (0.1mM
and 0.2mM) on variety Belete and Jalenie. The results showed that BA and BAP showed a
significant effect on most of the tuber quality components compared to GA3 at the lowest
concentration (0.1mM) although no significant difference was obtained between BA and
BAP. Belete was better than Jalenie in terms of tubers' specific gravity, dry matter and
starch content and total soluble solids regardless of the effect of the PGRs.
Chen et al (2022) conducted a study at south China Agricultural University,
Guangzhou, China to observed the effect of salicylic acid on freezing tolerance in potatoes
through transcriptomics and metabolomics analyses. Results concluded that application of
0.1M salicylic acid improves the freezing tolerance in potatoes and increase the expression
of HSFC1 gene through hormone signalling pathway
 MATERIALS AND METHODS

Experiment: The present study entitled, “To study the effect of phenolics compounds to
mitigate the impact of frost in potato crop” will be carried under field condition at
student’s farm, Khalsa College, Amritsar during 2023-2024. Experiment details are
as follows:

Treatments:

Treatment no. Phenolic compounds Concentration

1. Control
2. Salicylic acid 0.5mM
3. Salicylic acid 1.0mM
4. Methyl salicylic acid 0.5mM
5. Methyl salicylic acid 1.0mM
6. Sulfo salicylic acid 0.5mM
7. Sulfo salicylic acid 1.0mM
8. Acetyl salicylic acid 0.5mM
9. Acetyl salicylic acid 1.0mM
10. Benzoic acid 0.5mM
11. Benzoic acid 1.0mM

Methodology:

 Number of treatments : 11
 Number of replications :3
 Number of plots : 33
 Gross plot size : 3.3m x 3.3 m
 Net plot size : 2.4m x 2.4 m
 Design of experiment : Randomized Block Design
 Variety : Kufri chipsona
  Date of sowing : 11 October, 2024

Observation to be recorded: Pre sowing observation

 Analysis of pH and EC of soil
 Chemical analysis of soil - organic carbon, available N, P and K

Post sowing observation

Growth Characters
 Days taken for emergence
 Days taken for tuber initiation
 Number of stems per hill at 30, 60, 90 DAP
 Plant height at 30, 60, 90 DAP (cm)
 Leaf area index at 30, 60, 90 DAP
 Dry haulm yield at 30, 60, 90 DAP (Kg ha-1)

Yield characters
 Number of tubers per plant
 Average tuber weight per plant
 Tuber size grading (mm)
 Total tuber yield (Kg ha-1)
 Haulm yield
 Proline content

Economic analysis

 Net returns
 Gross returns
 B:C ratio
 REFERENCES

Ahmed K, Mengistu FG (2020) Quality components of potato tubers as affected by plant

growth regulators. Int J Res Stud Agri Sci:6(11):21-7
Alexopoulos A A, Akoumianakis K A, and Passam H C (2006) Effect of plant growth
regulators on the tuberization and physiological age of potato (Solanum tuberosum
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Araujo FF, Santos MN, Costa LC, Moreira KF, Araujo MN, Martinez PA, Finger FL (2019)
Changes on potato leaf metabolism and anatomy induced by plant growth regulators.
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Beukema H P and Van der Zaag D E (1990) Introduction to potato production. Pudoc,
Wageningen, Pp. 2007
Birbal W, Singh RK, Kumar V, Kushwah VS (2009). Effect of foliar application of plant
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(2022) Salicylic acid improves the constitutive freezing tolerance of potato as
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 ADVISORY COMMITTEE

DESIGNATION &
S. No. NAME SIGNATURE
DEPARTMENT

Prof. Sarabjit Singh Assistant Professor Department

1.
(Major Advisor) of Agriculture

Assistant Professor Department

2. Prof. Gurkirt Singh (Member)
of Agriculture

Assistant Professor Department

3. Prof. Rajanbir Singh (Member)
of Agriculture