The experiment took place on farmland in Bhandarwadi, Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, India, from February to May 2025. The site lied between 15° 37’ and 16° 40’ north latitude and 73° 19’ to 74° 13’ east longitude, at an altitude of 26 meters above sea level. The area has hot summers and cool winters. The temperature reached up to 40 ℃ in April and May, and dropped to 8 ℃ to 25 ℃ from December to February. Rainfall was unpredictable, often causing dry spells and low soil moisture during crop growth.

In this study, the test item was bitter gourd seeds treated with spiritual blessings energy/prayers/Trivedi Effect^® (BET). Table 1 shows the details of these vegetable crop seeds.

The bitter gourd seeds were split into two groups. One group served as the control and was left untreated. The other group was labeled as treated and received Blessings/BET. Both groups were then planted in the chosen farmland to analyze their growth, appearance, and yield. The same cultivation methods, including irrigation, fertilization, and pesticide use, were applied to both groups.

We used a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two groups: an unblessed or untreated control group (CONBIGG) and a Blessings/BET group (BTBIGG). The experimental plot was divided into two equal sections, one for the control and another for the treatment. Each plot contained three blocks. Plots were assigned randomly according to the design. In total, there were six blocks, each measuring 2.5 meters by 1.5 meters. Spacing between plants was 0.5 by 0.5 meters. There was a half-meter gap between replications and a 50-centimeter gap between plots. The entire experimental site covered 35 square meters, and each plot was 3.75 square meters. The farming area was cleaned before the experiment. Mixed chemical fertilizer levels (50, 100, and 50 kg NPK per hectare) were applied to each plot and mixed into the soil before planting.

The control group of bitter gourd seeds and plots, called CONBIGG, did not receive any treatment. The treated group, called BTBIGG, received a spiritual blessings/biofield energy treatment (S/BET) in-person for about 4 minutes from a spiritual energy healing practitioner, Mahendra Kumar Trivedi who has more than 15 years of spiritual blessings practice experience across the globe. The practitioner delivered the S/BET by transmitting divine energy to the seeds and land without making physical contact. The blessings involved the healer using the laying on of hands and prayers from about 1.5 feet away, at a temperature of 28 ± 2 °C and relative humidity of 65 ± 5 %. During this process, the healer aimed to channel divine energy from the Universe to the treated seeds and land.

The study area had sandy loam soil, which was light, well-drained, and low in fertility. Before the experiment setting, topsoil samples (30 cm deep) were collected from random spots in each plot using a five-point sampling method. The samples were mixed, and 1 kg was taken from each plot, air-dried, sieved through a 2 mm mesh, and stored at 4 ℃. The physical and chemical properties were then measured. The soil's texture was identified by hand feeling 17. Soil organic carbon (SOC) was measured using the Walkley and Black dichromate wet oxidation method 18. Total nitrogen (N) was determined by Micro-Kjeldahl digestion 19. Available phosphorus (P) was measured by Bray-1 extraction and molybdenum blue colorimetry 20. Exchangeable Ca, Mg, and Na were extracted with 1 M ammonium acetate 21. Potassium (K) was measured with a flame photometer 22, and Ca, Mg, and Na were measured by the EDTA titration method 23. Soil pH was measured in a 1:2 soil-water mixture using a digital pH meter.

Seeds were planted using the direct sowing method. For the first 10 days, plots were kept moist by hand. After that, a drip irrigation system with self-compensating emitters spaced 0.5 meters apart and a flow rate of 3 liters per hour was used. Each plot in both the control and treatment groups received different levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer (50:100:50 kg NPK per hectare) as urea, single super phosphate (SSP), and muriate of potash (MOP). All SSP, MOP, and half of the urea were applied to the soil before sowing, while the rest of the urea was added 21 days later. The insecticide Hamla 550 (Gharda Chemicals Limited, India) was sprayed at 2 mL/L of water on days 21 and 49 after sowing in both groups. To assess vegetative growth and yield, five plants were randomly chosen from each plot 80 days after sowing.

We recorded several qualitative morphological traits, including main vine length, stem shape, stem length, depth of lobbing, vein colour, leaf blade colour, leaf blade width, leaf blade lobing, flower colour, flower size, flower bud colour, fruit colour, fruit shape, fruit shape apex, seed colour, seed size, and seediness colour. Quantitative traits such as plant vine length (m), number of branches per vine, stem diameter (cm), days to 50% flowering, fruit length (cm), and fruit diameter (cm) were also measured.

Bitter gourd fruits were picked when they reached physiological maturity. Their size was measured in centimetres, and their weight was recorded using a weighing balance. The yield per net plot, measured in kilograms, was converted to tonnes per hectare using a multiplication factor.

Data are shown as Mean ± SEM. To compare two independent groups, we used Student’s t-test in SigmaPlot (v14.0). Results were considered statistically significant at p < 0.05.

Table 2 shows the physical and chemical properties of the soil at the experimental site. The soil was observed as sandy loam with high bulk density, acidic pH, and low levels of organic matter, total nitrogen, and exchangeable calcium, magnesium, and sodium. The microbial bioburdens of sandy loam soil depend on the variation of these parameters 24. Before planting, the control group (CONBIGG) soil had an acidic pH of 5.01, a condition that severely limits nutrient availability, particularly phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium and also reduce the soil’s cation exchange capacity (CEC) and make it less fertile 2526. Our findings showed that the soil also had low levels of exchangeable cations like calcium, magnesium, and sodium in CONBIGG and BTBIGG (before plantation) and CONBIGG (after harvesting). However, after applying BET to the land, the soil pH increased slightly to 5.86, indicating it moderately less acidic. Total potassium and exchangeable cations (calcium, magnesium, and sodium) were also improved in the BTBIGG (Table 2).

Various observations on the growth and yield of bitter gourd were recorded at periodic intervals. Figure 1 shows the different stages of the growth cycle of the bitter gourd: germination, seedling, vegetative growth, flowering, fruit growth, and harvesting stages.

Table 3 shows the qualitative traits of bitter gourd vegetative growth. The biofield energy-treated group (BTBIGG) had longer vines and stems than the control group (CONBIGG), which had medium-length. BTBIGG also had more primary branches, while CONBIGG had a medium number. Leaves were dark green in BTBIGG and medium green in CONBIGG, but both groups had five-lobed leaves with and yellow flowers. The fruit was dark green in BTBIGG and medium green in CONBIGG. Most fruits in both groups had continuous ridges and a spindle shape. Seeds were light brown in CONBIGG and brown in BTBIGG. Seediness was low (fewer than 10 seeds per fruit) in CONBIGG and medium (10–20 seeds per fruit) in BTBIGG.

The blessing energy-treated group had a higher germination rate (98.10 %) than the control group (CONBIGG, 84.28 %). Vine length was measured at 72 days after sowing and at harvest. At harvest, vine length in BTBIGG increased significantly (p ≤ 0.001) by 38.78 % compared to CONBIGG. The number of branches and nodes per vine in BTBIGG rose significantly (p ≤ 0.01) by 54.03 % and 32.34 %, respectively, compared to CONBIGG. Stem diameter and internodal length in BTBIGG increased significantly (p ≤ 0.001) by 13.37 % and 42.94 %, respectively compared to the CONBIGG. Leaf length and width in BTBIGG improved by 15.82 % and 15.90 %, respectively. The number of female flowers in BTBIGG increased by 30.80 % (p ≤ 0.05). Fruit weight, length, and width in BTBIGG increased significantly by 12.90 % (p ≤ 0.05), 33.27 % (p ≤ 0.001), and 30.68 % (p ≤ 0.001), respectively. Seed length, width, seed count per fruit, and 100 seed weight in BTBIGG increased significantly (p ≤ 0.001) by 40.32 %, 21.88 %, 52.50 %, and 33.27 %, respectively. The number of fruits per vine in BTBIGG increased significantly (p ≤ 0.001) by 66.88 %. Fruit yield per hectare was 61.31 % higher in BTBIGG compared to CONBIGG (Table 4).