ISSN 2360-798X
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted during the 2024–2025 growing season at Bhandarwadi, Maharashtra, India, to evaluate the effects of spiritual (blessing) energy treatment (S/BET; Trivedi Effect®) applied to seeds and experimental soil on the vegetative growth and yield performance of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria L.). The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. Seeds were assigned to two groups: an untreated control (CONBOGG) and a spiritual/biofield energy–treated group (BTBOGG). Plants receiving SET exhibited statistically significant improvements in several growth and yield-related traits relative to the control, including overall plant vigor, growth habit, stem pubescence, leaf size and pubescence, leaf blade coloration, fruit skin color, seed color, and seediness. These results indicate a positive influence of S/BET on the morphological and reproductive attributes of bottle gourd under field conditions. Phenological traits, including vine length, number of branches, nodes per vine, internodal length, leaf width, number of female flowers, fruit weight, fruit width, seed length, seed width, and seed number per fruit were significantly enhanced in the BTBOGG group compared with the CONBOGG group, with increases of 59.50% (p = 0.001), 67.70% (p ≤ 0.001), 40.15% (p ≤ 0.001), 50.12% (p ≤ 0.001), 40.37% (p ≤ 0.001), 57.92% (p = 0.008), 56.00% (p = 0.009), 57.14% (p ≤ 0.001), 53.27% (p ≤ 0.001), 54.90% (p ≤ 0.001), and 40.01% (p ≤ 0.001), respectively. In addition, total yield (t ha⁻¹) increased by 61.87% in the BTBOGG group relative to the control. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that SET-Trivedi Effect® treatment substantially improved plant morphology, reproductive performance, and yield in bottle gourd, providing robust preliminary evidence for its potential application in enhancing crop productivity and quality.
Keywords: Lagenaria siceraria, spiritual blessing, prayer, morphology, phenology, bottle gourd, yield