THE COMMERCIAL USE OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS TO REGULATE FRUIT DEVELOPMENT

Fruit growers and marketers aim to provide consumers with fruit that is attractive, tasty and economical, and meets their nutritional, sensory and psychological needs. Increasingly the consumer, retailer and importer are placing more rigorous demands on fruit suppliers, the materials they use and how they operate.

Growers strive to find a competitive edge and to find more effective ways to manage crop plants for increased yield and superior fruit quality. Their methods include using chemicals to regulate plants. Plant growth regulators (PGRs) such as NAA, GA₃, BAP and CPPU are used on fruit crops mainly to improve fruit characteristics, e.g., to increase size and firmness, to improve colour and shape, to reduce the number of seeds, to increase yields, to reduce variability and to prevent storage disorders. Other PGRs, such as PP333, ‘ReTain’ and hydrogen cyanamide are used to enhance production efficiency, to reduce vigour and to optimise harvest timing and management. PGRs aid field fruit production, or reduce production costs, but may also improve the quality of fruit available to marketers and consumers, as well as extending its availability.