Vol. 9, Special Issue 12, Part M (2025)

The present experiment entitled, “Effect of different concentration of rooting hormone (IBA) and rooting media on root parameters and economics of Citrus-Lemon Cuttings” was designed with an objective to study the effect of different concentration of IBA on root growth and survival of cuttings in citrus. The experiment was conducted at the student instructional field and Shed-net House, Department of Horticulture, School of Agricultural Sciences, G. H. Raisoni University Saikheda, Dist.-Pandhurna (M.P.) during Rainy Season of Year 2023. The experiment consists in ten treatments with control and replicated three times, the experiment laid out under Randomized Block Design, the observation recorded under the treatments such as T₁-Control (Garden soil), T₂-500 ppm IBA + Garden soil + Sand (1:1), T₃-500 ppm IBA + Garden soil + Sand + FYM (1:1:1), T₄-500 ppm IBA +Garden soil + Sand + Leaf mould (1:1:1), T₅-1000 ppm IBA + Garden soil + Sand (1:1), T₆-1000 ppm IBA + Garden soil + Sand + FYM (1:1:1), T₇-1000 ppm IBA +Garden soil + Sand + Leaf mould (1:1:1), T₈-1500 ppm IBA + Garden soil + Sand (1:1), T₉-1500 ppm IBA + Garden soil + Sand + FYM (1:1:1) and T₁₀-1500 ppm IBA + Garden soil + Sand + Leaf mould (1:1:1). The observation was recorded under the experiments like days taken to 50 % sprouting, maximum total number of leaves per cutting, number of roots per cutting, length of roots cm), diameter of root (mm) and economics. The result revealed that the Treatment T₉ (1500 ppm IBA + Garden soil + Sand + FYM) was the fastest sprouting time (16.55 days), the highest number of leaves (33.35), the maximum number of roots (11.23), and the longest and thickest roots (11.89 cm and 1.16 mm, respectively). The control (T₁), which had no IBA, performed the worst across all metrics. It took the longest to sprout (28.58 days) and had the fewest leaves and roots, confirming the critical role of IBA as a rooting hormone. The economic analysis revealed a trade-off between high yields and cost-effectiveness. While Treatment T₉ produced the highest number of rooted cuttings and the greatest net return, its high cost resulted in a lower Benefit-Cost (B:C) ratio (2.29). In contrast, treatments with lower IBA concentrations, like T₃ (500 ppm IBA + Garden soil + Sand + FYM), offered a better balance, providing good rooting success with a more favorable B:C ratio (3.53).