Abstract
Emergence of unproductive vegetative shoots/flushes is considered to be a main cause of low yield, irregular bearing, and malformation of inflorescences in mango. Selected mango trees of the cultivars 'Chaunsa', 'Dushehare', and 'Anwar Ratool' growing in the subtropical region of Khanewal (30°18′0N, 71°56′0E), a district of Pakistan, were characterized as having excessive vegetative growth, erratic flowering, and fruiting with declining productivity due to malformation of inflorescences. Paclobutrazol soil drenching was evaluated as a method to suppress excessive vegetative growth and to increase the number of reproductive shoots even during the 'off' season. Different rates of paclobutrazol was applied at rates of (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 g a.i.) in September through soil drenching. Results showed that soil drenching with paclobutrazol at the highest rates (12, 10, and 8 g a.i.) was significantly effective in suppressing vegetative growth, reducing the increase in canopy volume, and flush length as compared to control trees in all treated cultivars of mango. Statistically significant differences were recorded in treated trees as compared to control regarding the emergence of reproductive shoots, fruit setting, panicle length, fruit drop, intensity of emergence of malformed panicles, and yield. Response of selected cultivars of mango to paclobutrazol was statistically different regarding various vegetative and reproductive growth characteristics. Paclobutrazol was more useful in 'Seasonal Chaunsa' as compared to 'Dushehare' and 'Anwar Ratool' for improving various vegetative and reproductive parameters studied in this research.