Response of strawberry plants to the application of brassinosteroid under field conditions

Abstract

Brassinosteroids are steroidal compounds which are required to plant growth and development and they are, also, implied in plant response to abiotic stress. Recently, important advances in the knowledge of brassinosteroids metabolism and signalling were made, both in model plants and in economically important crops. The aim of this study was to evaluate the agronomic response of strawberry plants to the application of Brassinosteroid as a biotechnological alternative for increased strawberry fruit yield at field conditions. Plants of strawberry cv. ‘Florida Festival’, were used in two annual production cycle (2014-2015) in Tucumán, Argentina. Brassinosteroid
treatments increased strawberry fruit yield between 9% and 34%, mainly of marketable type fruits. No statistical difference in non- marketable fruit yield among treatments was observed.