Influence of paclobutrazol on growth and yield of Brassica carinata A.Br.

Foliar spraying of Brassica carinata (cv. PC 5) with paclobutrazol (PP 333) at 5, 10 and 20 g ml^-1 concentrations, reduced plant height significantly and modified the canopy structure by enhancing the number of branches (primary, secondary and tertiary) and the angle of insertion of primary branches on the main axis. The seed yield per plant also increased mainly due to increase in the number of siliquae per plant. Paclobutrazol increased total dry matter of plants and partitioning coefficients. The leaves in paclobutrazol-treated plants exhibited higher chlorophyll content, and they remained intact on plants for longer than the controls. The seeds from paclobutrazol-treated plants had higher levels of proteins, strarch and total soluble sugars but less total seed oil content.