Growth, yield and fiber quality characteristics of Bt and non-Bt cotton cultivars in response to boron nutrition

Table 3 Physiological characteristics of Bt and non-Bt cotton cultivars grown with different levels and methods of B application

Treatments	Chlorophyll-a /(mg·g⁻¹ FW)		Chlorophyll-b / (mg·g⁻¹ FW)		MSI /%		RWC /%
Treatments	Bt	Non-Bt	Bt	Non-Bt	Bt	Non-Bt	Bt	Non-Bt
CK	0.52^e	0.40^f	0.42^f	0.34^fg	68.7^e	64.8^d	75.2^f	68.6^g
SB1	0.70^c	0.75^cd	0.53^e	0.61^c	74.8^cd	69.7^c	83.4^c	78.7^c
SB2	0.71^c	1.11^a	0.72^c	1.00^a	83.9^a	76.2^ab	84.4^bc	84.1^a
SB3	0.83^b	0.83^c	0.54^e	0.62^c	64.8^f	57.4^f	78.6^de	78.4^c
FB1	0.82^b	0.62^de	0.65^d	0.60^c	76.5^c	73.1^bc	77.8^e	71.7^ef
FB2	0.90^a	0.60^de	0.74^c	0.63^c	71.8^d	65.9^d	86.1^b	73.8^c
SB1 + FB1	0.93^a	0.74^cd	0.83^bc	0.54^d	77.5^bc	74.4^b	78.8^de	72.4^ef
SB1 + FB2	0.85^b	0.63^de	0.90^ab	0.85^b	74.8^cd	75.3^b	85.7^b	71.5^f
SB2 + FB1	0.84^b	0.61^de	1.01^a	0.55^d	84.6^a	80.5^a	88.5^a	74.6^de
SB2 + FB2	0.91^a	0.96^b	0.72^c	0.72^bc	83.2^a	71.8^bc	78.2^de	78.7^c
SB3 + FB1	0.80^b	0.62^de	0.70^c	0.52^d	67.9^e	64.3^de	77.6^e	71.6^ef
SB3 + FB2	0.95^a	0.46^f	0.63^d	0.44^de	62.4^fg	57.8^f	89.3^a	73.5^e

Values are means of three replicates with two plants per replicate (n = 3). Values with the same letter in a column do not differ significantly at P ≤ 0.05. CK: Control; SB1: 1 mg·kg⁻¹ B through soil application; SB2: 2 mg·kg⁻¹ B; SB3: 3 mg·kg⁻¹ B; FB1: 0.2% B foliar spray; FB2: 0.4% B foliar spray; SB1 + FB1: 1 mg·kg⁻¹ B + 0.2% B foliar spray; SB1 + FB2: 1 mg·kg⁻¹ B + 0.4% B foliar spray; SB2 + FB1: 2 mg·kg⁻¹ B + 0.2% B foliar spray; SB2 + FB2: 2 mg·kg⁻¹ B + 0.4% B foliar spray; SB3 + FB1: 3 mg·kg⁻¹ B + 0.2% B foliar spray; SB3 + FB2: 3 mg·kg⁻¹ B + 0.4% B foliar spray

ISSN: 2523-3254