Why Farmers Use Plant Growth Regulators

Plant Growth Regulators or Plant Hormones as they are called sometimes are very potent bios chemical compounds that play a pivotal role in boosting up production and handling of crops. To farmers, application of PGRs makes plants healthier, enhances growth and also enhances on the quality of the yield. As challenges in the agriculture industry increase including climate change, availability of resources, and increase demand for food, PGRs provide a tool to increase efficiency, gain yield, and optimize sustainable farming practices. PGRs are therefore beneficial to farmers, and below are several reasons why farmers should use it.

 PGRs act as Plant Growth Promoting Agents and they are used to increase growth rates, fruits size as well as improve the overall health of the plant. Some of the PGRs for instance gibberellin will cause stem elongations and hence bigger plants and hence more room for fruits. Cytokinins promote cell division thereby increasing branches flowers and fruits in very many instances implying increased yields. Through these processes, PGRs would increase the amount of yield per unit of input and hence increases productivity of the crop.

There are a number of ways in which PGRs are helpful – they help germination of seeds and development of roots in particular. Keto’s, gibberellins are used to break seed dormancy to enhance seed germination rate and synchronization hence reducing the harvesting period. Likewise auxins promote the formation of roots particularly in a part which has been cut off. This is especially useful for farmers who engage in cloning or vegetative method of propagating their crops. Faster and efficient germination and rooting decrease the time taken to have a ready crop for the market as this increases farmers turn around time.

As a result of climate change the frequency and intensity of droughts, heat stress and salinity are becoming more frequent and unpredictable, hence affecting crops. This paper seeks to explain how PGRs, especially ABA, aid plants in dealing with these stresses. ABA increases closely in the stomates and this assists plants to conserve water during the dry seasons hence survive despite scarce water supply. Additionally, ethylene triggers responses to stress by encouraging the drop or abscission of senescent or necrotic tissue and facilitating the saving of energy and nutrients for more vigorous growth. When stress tolerance is enhanced through PGRs, crops can withstand unfavorable conditions and lower crop yields and farm vulnerability.

As mentioned above, PGRs give the farmer authority to control the pattern of growth to be expected in certain crops. For example, Gibberellins make stem longer so plants can be taller whereas, cytokinins are responsible for the plant to remain compact and bushier. This level of control enables farmers to fine-tune the plant architecture to fit certain market requirements as may be needed for better interception of light, or when plants are required to be low to ease harvesting among other reasons. More specifically, PGRs also contribute to controlling the flowering, fruiting as well as the ripening process which contributes towards better control of harvest times.

Farmers are also able to regulate density throughout the plants growth period to ensure optimum utilization of the available space. In high density systems as seen in greenhouse production, growth is kept under check to avoid overcrowding leading to competition for some of the important factors.

The end product is just as important as the amount, and PGRs can increase both in fruits and flowers. Is used as a growth regulator to control shedding of fruits and to promote the proper growth of fruits. For instance, they can retain blooming of crops such as apples, tomatoes, and others to reduce post-pollination drop. Gibberellins also cause fruit enlargement and so fruits produced with these hormones will be large and perhaps more attractive to buyers. Cytokinins are equally used to prolong the shelf life of the flowers to make them more attractive to the consumer market in floral businesses.

Its natural hormone ethylene utilized can control the ripening process in line with the marketing plan, and also avoids over-ripening which causes a lot of wastage.

 PGRs assist in the conservation of resources for instance water, nutrients, and space because resources in the world are gradually reducing. Auxins have a positive effect on root development so the plants soak water and nutrients cutting down water and fertilizer consumption. The policy leads to better stewardship of the land in respects to farming hence reducing impacts of agriculture on the environment.

Also, PGRs have benefits of saving on the use of chemical pesticides and herbicide chemicals in agriculture production processes. As an example, auxin and cytokine help to enhance plant vigor and health and hence the produce has better resistance to pests and diseases. The implementation of PGRs as an integrated pest management approach limit the use of synthetic pests.

 PGRs like ethylene guarantees that fruits mature when it is appropriate to avoid pre maturity or over maturity leading to spoilage most of the time. This controlled maturation is beneficial in fruits such as bananas, tomatoes, and citrus fruits, fruits where timing is very important for market requirements.

Also, PGRs are useful to reduce fruits drop off young or other growth problem that could lead to dropping of fruits. For instance, ethylene can be used when trying to harvest the fruits at one go so as to minimize losses during the actual harvesting and handling that may take place after the fruits have been picked from the trees.