Response of Mulching and GA3 on the Performance of Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. Capitata)
A field trial in Agra found that combining black polythene mulch with 50 ppm gibberellic acid (GA3) boosted cabbage head yield by roughly 30% over untreated plants, while also producing the earliest, largest, and densest heads of any treatment tested.
Key findings
- ▸The combined treatment of black polythene mulch and 50 ppm GA3 (M1G2) produced the highest head yield of the trial — 517.5 quintals per hectare, versus 398 q/ha for untreated control plants, roughly a 30% increase.
- ▸M1G2 also triggered the earliest head initiation (37.24 days) and the largest head diameter (43.18 cm) and trimmed head weight (0.72 kg) of any of the nine treatment combinations tested.
- ▸Black polythene mulch alone outperformed straw mulch and no mulch across every growth and yield measure, attributed to better soil moisture retention, weed suppression, and warmer root-zone temperatures.
- ▸GA3 at 50 ppm consistently outperformed 25 ppm and untreated controls on its own, but its effect was substantially amplified when paired with black polythene mulch rather than applied alone.
Abstract
The present investigation entitled "Response of mulching and GA3 on the performance of cabbage (Brassica oleracea var capitata)" was conducted at Agriculture Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, Raja Balwant Singh College, Bichpuri, Agra during Rabi season of 2024-25 to assess the influence of different mulching materials and GA3 concentrations on various growth and yield parameters of cabbage. The experiment comprised of two factors, factor A: mulching - 3 types (M0=Control (No mulching), M1=Black Polythene mulch and M2=Straw mulch) and factor B: GA3 - 3 levels (G0=Control (0 ppm GA3), G1=25 ppm GA3 and G2=50 ppm GA3). Nine treatment combinations were used. The test crop, green cabbage (variety Pusa Mukta), was laid out in a Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with three replications. The study demonstrated that the combined application of black polythene mulch and gibberellic acid (GA3) at 50 ppm significantly enhanced the growth and yield parameters of cabbage. Among the treatments, black polythene mulch (M1) consistently recorded the highest values for plant height, leaf length, and leaf width at 90 days after transplanting, while the control (M0) recorded the lowest. Similarly, GA3 at 50 ppm (G2) significantly improved plant growth traits. The interaction of mulching and GA3 was also significant, with the M1G2 treatment producing the maximum plant spread, stem diameter, and earliest head initiation (37.24 days), in contrast to M0G0, which showed the least performance. Yield-related traits such as fresh weight of the whole plant, trimmed head weight, and head diameter were also significantly enhanced by the M1 and G2 treatments, with their combination (M1G2) recording the highest values.
Originally published in the International Journal of Advanced Biochemistry Research, 2025; 9(6): 481-486, DOI: 10.33545/26174693.2025.v9.i6f.4573. Republished here with attribution; see the original journal for the full formatted article.
Cite this paper
Vishwa Nath (2026). Response of Mulching and GA3 on the Performance of Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. Capitata). Agri Research Journal. https://agriculturejournals.com/papers/mulching-ga3-performance-cabbage-brassica-oleracea
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Black Plastic and a Growth Hormone Grew Bigger Cabbage, Faster
A nine-treatment field trial at RBS College, Agra, found that black polythene mulch paired with 50 ppm gibberellic acid produced cabbage heads that formed earlier, grew larger, and yielded about 30% more than untreated plants — with every other combination landing somewhere in between.