EFFECT OF AUXINS ON PROPAGATION OF HONEY CROP: STEVIA REBAUDIANA (BERTONI) BERTONI.

The present study was conducted to optimize the green house conditions for Propagation of Stevia rebaudiana cuttings. Stevia rebaudiana belonging to the family Asteraceae, is a native to the Brazil and Paraguay. Its leaves produced stevioside, an a caloric natural sweetener. The sweetness of stevioside was 150 -300 times greater than sucrose. Seeds of Stevia were very small in size. Production of Stevia through seeds was not beneficial because seeds were not viable for germination due to their infertility. In present study different concentrations of Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and Indole Butyric acid (IBA) were used to study their effect on the rooting of Stevia rebaudiana cuttings. Results showed that highest number of roots per cutting were observed to be 34.9 from 3% NAA solution, showing maximum root length, root number, shoot length and number of nodes per cutting. Cuttings of Stevia rebaudiana responded well in NAA treatment as compared to the IBA treatment. It was concluded that Naphthalene acetic acid was a better choice for enhanced rooting and vegetative propagation of Stevia rebaudiana through stem cuttings.