Assessment of Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflorum) Varieties for Yield and Productivity in Salem District

Abstract

Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflorum) is a member of the family Asteraceae, mainly grown for cut flower and loose flower for garland making, general decoration, hair adornments and religious function. The major varieties grown by the farmers of Salem district in Tamil Nadu are local, chandini, karnool, uppili etc. Technical problems faced by the farmers were low yield, poor quality flowers, high cost of planting materials and high cost of cultivation. On farm trial was conducted with CO 1 variety released by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore and the locally adopted variety. Five chrysanthemum growing farmers were selected at different locations of pannapatti village with an area of 2ha each for the trial. RBD was laid out with three varieties as treatments and seven replications. CO1 performed well and recorded highest yield (11.2 t/ha) than the local variety (5.8 t/ha). The major attribute for increase in yield is big flower size (4.0–4.5 cm dia) in CO 1 than the local varieties (2.8–3.4 cm). Besides, CO1 gave ratoon crop that led to dramatic reduction in cost of cultivation. CO1 variety with big flower size and increase in yield than the local varieties fetched higher price in market. There is a need to standardize the optimum dose of nutrients particularly the integrated nutrient management for improving the soil structure, physico-chemical properties and flower yield for CO 1 variety.