Effect of different planting seasons and pinching on growth, yield and yield attributing characters of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) var. Pusa Narangi Gainda

Introduction

Marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) is one of the most important commercial flowers belong to family Asteraceae grown all over the word, Which accounts for more than half of the nation in loose flower production (Jyothi et al., 2018) [3] . It is native to South and Central America especially Mexico. Marigold is one of the oldest cultivated flowering plants, being very popular in tropical and Sub-tropical countries as a garden plant, pots and herbaceous border for beautification (Singh et al., 2017) [18] . Marigold is one of the most widely used loose flowers for making garlands during religious festivals and cultural functions, wreaths, floral decoration, flower baskets cut flowers, bedding and potting and also for making different products. The growers are attracted towards marigold flower as it has a habit of free flowering, short duration to produce marketable flowers of attractive colours and good keeping quality.It is most important conventionally exploited flower which is widely cultivated for aesthetic purposes and has a high economic value in both rural and urban parts of the country. Flowers have always played an important role in human lives, playing a vital role in today and will be of great importance even in future. Now, it has emerged as an economically feasible commercial trade in horticulture. Worldwide business of floriculture products like cut and loose flowers, ornamental plants, fresh bulbs, flower seeds and plantlets is gaining tremendous momentum day by day. The estimated cultivated area and production under floriculture in India 3, 07,000 hectares and 29, 24,000 MT, respectively during 2019-2023. Floriculture has caught the eyes of the farmers as an enterprise which can yield higher return per unit area due to the emphasis shifting on diversification of agriculture in the recent years. Marigold is a leading flower crop of Chhattisgarh state; it is cultivated in an area of about 5,245 hectares with productions of 42,451 MT. Marigold is one of the dominating flowers in the flower market of Chhattisgarh. It is blessed with many natural advantages like abundant sunshine, favourable temperature for its growth. These congenial factors place the region in an ideal position to become a leading producer in national and international market.

Materials and Methods

The present investigation entitled was carried out at the College of Agriculture and Research Station, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh during the years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 in Factorial Randomized Block Design with three factors. There were twenty seven treatments combinations involving 3 planting season, viz., (Se 1 ) Kharif, (Se 2 ) Rabi, and (Se 2 ) Summer and three planting spacing, viz., (S 1 ) 30 x 30 cm, (S 2 ) 45 x 45 cm, (S 3 ) 50 x 50 cm and three pinching viz., (P 0 ) no pinching, (P 1 ) single pinching, (P 2 ) double pinching. The total number to plot were 81 and the size of each plot was 2 x2 cm after field preparation, layout was done as per the treatment and healthy seedlings with 3-4 leaves were transplanted. The transplanting was done evening hours when the temperature was low in order to avoid the transplanting shock and light irrigation was given immediately after transplanting. Besides the application of farm yard manure (FYM) @ 20 t/ha, the chemical fertilizers were also applied at the rate of 120 kg N, 100 kg P 2 O 5 and 100 kg K 2 O per hectare. FYM was mixed thoroughly at the time of transplanting along with half dose of N and full doses of P 2 O 5 and K 2 O. Remaining half dose of N was applied after 45 days of transplanting. Then pinching was performed generally after 30 days of transplanting. Other intercultural operations were carried out in accordance with the recommended package of practices from time to time. The experimental observations were recorded in terms of the following plant parameters such as plant height (cm), plant spread (cm), number of primary branches per plant, no of Secondary branches, days to 50% flowering, weight of flower per plant (g), and flower yield (t/ha). The data relating to each parameter were statistically analyzed factorial Randomized Block Design.

Results and Discussion

Vegetative Growth Characters Maximum plant height was recorded in (Se [2] , Sailaja et al. (2013) [12] . Treatment (P 0 ) no pinching recorded significantly higher plant height at 30 DAT (35.89,37.43 and 36.66 cm), 60 DAT (40.91,46.45 and 43.68 cm) and 90 DAT (77.82,82.76 and 80.29 cm respectively) during both years (2017-18 and 2018-19) and on the basis of mean data. However, the lowest plant height was noted under treatment (P 2 ) double pinching at 30 DAT (29.85, 31.76 and 30.80 cm) 60 DAT (32.70, 41.13 and 36.92 cm) 90 DAT (70.86, 75.99 and 73.42 cm) during both the year and on pooled mean basis. Similar results were also reported. He interaction between Planting Season X Spacing X Pinching at 30, 60 and 90 DAT was found significant impact on plant height during both the years and on the basis of pooled mean. The maximum plant height (46.65, 50.62, 56.64 cm) 30 DAT, (63.01, 73.99, 68.50 cm) 60 DAT and (97.27, 94.30, 95.79 cm) 90 DAT respectively were found with treatment combination (Se 1 S 1 P 0 ) during this investigation which were showed significant difference with remaining of the other treatment combination. The minimum plant height was observed under treatment combination (Se 3 S 3 P 1 ) during this investigation. The observations are in conformity with findings on Tagetes erecta, Karuppaiah and Krishna (2005) [4] in Tagetes patula. The maximum number of primary branches was recorded (11.32, 11.98 [16] .The maximum number of primary branches (10.33, 11.2, 10.72) at 30 DAT, (12.38, 12.32 12.35)60 DAT and (13.63, 13.43 and 13.53 respectively) 90 DAT was recorded in treatment (S 3 ) 50 x 50 cm and followed by (S 2 ) 45 x 45 cm during both the years and on the basis of pooled data. However, minimum number of primary branches (9.31, 9.88 and 9.59) at 30 DAT, (11.01, 9.86, 10.44) 60 DAT and (12.40, 11.87, 12.13 respectively) 90 DAT was found in treatment (S 1 ) 30 x 30 cm. Similar finding were also noted by Sheena et al. (2017) [16] .The maximum number of primary branches (10.22, 10.89 and 10.55) 30, (12.22, 12.18 and 12.20) 60 and (13.52, 12.83 and 13.12 respectively) 90 DAT was observed in treatment (P 1 ) single pinching followed by (P 2 ) double pinching. The minimum number of primary branches (9.45, 10.12, 9.79) at 30 DAT, (11.46, 10.20, 10.83) 60 DAT and (10.83, 12.29, 12.34) respectively 90 DAT was found under treatment in (P 0 ) no pinching during both the years and on the basis of two years means data. These results are in accordance with the findings by Sheena et al. (2017) [16] . The maximum primary branches (13.88, 15.13, 14.51) (16.23, 15.58 and 15.91 respectively) was recorded under treatment (S 3 ) 50 x 50 cm followed by (S 2 ) 45 x 45 cm during both the years and on the basis of mean data. However, the minimum number of secondary branches at 30 DAT (9.19, 9.62 and 9.41), 60 DAT (13.33, 13.69 and 13.51) 90 DAT (13.33, 13.76 and 13.55 respectively) was recorded in treatment (S 1 ) 30 x 30 cm during both the years and on the two years mean data. These results are in conformity with the findings of Srivastava et al. (2002) [18] Sheena et al. (2017) [16] in marigold. Among single pinching produced significantly maximum number of secondary branches (10.32, 10.69 and 10.45) at 30 DAT, (16.07, 14.53, 15.30) 60 DAT and (16.07, 15.21 and 15.64) respectively 90 DAT under treatment (P 1 ) single pinching followed by (P 2 ) double pinching at 30 DAT (9.68, 10.44 and 10.06), 60 DAT (15.46, 14.46, 14.96) and 90 DAT (15.46, 15.08 and 15.27) respectively during both the years and on the basis of mean data. The minimum number of secondary branches (9.00, 9.64, 9.32) at 30 DAT, (13.23, 13.27, 13.25) 60 DAT and (13.23, 13.60, 13.41 respectively) 90 DAT was found under treatment (P 0 ) no pinching during both the years and on the basis of two years means data. This result corroborates the findings of Pramila et al. (2011) [9] . Maximum number of Secondary recorded under P1 (single pinching) followed byP2 (double pinching) might have resulted due to breaking of apical dominance and sprouting of auxiliary buds which divert energy the other parts of the besides the apical part. This result corroborates the findings of Prakash et al. (2016) [8] . The maximum Secondary branches (13.88, 14.67, 14.27) at 30 DAT (18.43, 19.00, 18.72) at 60 DAT and (19.87, 17.55, 18.71 respectively) at 90 DAT respectively was observed in treatment combination (Se 2 S 3 P 2 ) and the minimum Secondary branches (7.68, 8.03, 7.86) at 30 DAT, (10.22, 10.99, 10.55) at 60 DAT and (11.37, 11.88, 11.28 respectively) at 90 DAT was observed in treatment combination (Se 3 S 1 P 0 ) during both years and pooled mean basis. The results of this study are in close conformity with Prakash et al. (2016) [8] , Khobragade et al. (2012) [6] in China aster and Sharma et al. (2012) [15] in marigold.

Flower parameter

The minimum days to first bud appearance (60.71, 61.03, 61.27 days respectively) was observed in treatment (Se 2 ) Rabi season. The maximum days (65.03, 65.44, 65.23 days) required for day to first bud were observed under treatment (Se 1 ) Kharif season both the years as well as and two years mean. These results are found in agreement with the findings of Marigold. The minimum days to first bud appearance (61.10, 61.47, and 61.69 respectively) were observed in treatment (S 1 ) 30 x 30 cm followed by (S 2 ) 45 x 45cm in both the years (2019-2020 and 2020-21) and mean of two years. However, maximum day to first bud appearance (64.08, 64.44, and 64.26respectively) was recorded under treatment (S 3 ) 50 x 50 cm during both years and on the basis of pooled data. These results are in confirmation with the findings at Meena et al. (2015) [7] , Serrato-Cruz et al. (2002) [14] African Marigold. The early bud appearance (60.82, 61.17 and 61.40 days respectively) was also reported significant difference with rest other treatments. whereas, maximum days required for first bud appearance (64.10, 64.50 and 64.30 respectively) were recorded under treatment (P 2 )double pinching during both the years and on the basis pooled mean. These findings are in corroboration with work of Khobragade et al. (2012) [6] in China Aster and Sharma et al. (2012) [13] , Sehrawat et al. (2003) [13] in Marigold. The interaction between Planting Season X Spacing X Pinching was found non-significant during both the years as well as pooled mean basis. The minimum days to 50% flowering (59.33, 58.57 and 58.95 days) respectively were recorded under treatment (Se 2 ) Rabi season followed by (C 3 ) summer season. The maximum days to days to 50% flowering (65.46, 65.76 and 65.61 days) respectively (Se 1 ) Kharif season in this investigation. The minimum days to 50% flowering (60.43, 60.52 and 60.48 days) respectively during this investigation was observe under treatment (S 3 ) 50 x 50 cm flowering during both the years (2019-20 and 2020-21) and mean of two years. However, maximum days to 50% flowering (64.69, 64.39 and 64.54 days respectively) was observed in treatment (S 1 ) 30 x 30 cm during this investigation. More time for 50% flowering was observed at wider spacing S 3 than S 2 and S 1. It might be due to that in wider spaced plants there was less competition for nutrient, light and water. The results are in line with the findings of Pratibha et al. (2018) [10] . The minimum days to 50% flowering (61.92, 61.49 and 61.70 days) respectively significantly influenced by the pinching in treatment (P 0 ) no pinching followed by (P 1 ) single pinching. However, late 50% flowering (64.31, 64.03 and 64.17 days) respectively was recorded under treatment (P 2 ) double pinching during both the years 2019-20 and 2020-21 and mean of two years. The interaction between Planting Season X Spacing X Pinching showed significant influence on 50% flowering during both years and pooled mean basis. The maximum 50% flowering (55.71, 55. 18, 55.45respectively) and was recorded in treatment combination (Se 2 S 3 P 1 ) during doth the years as well as pooled mean basis. The minimum 50% flowering (54.19, 53.96, 54.07) was observed in treatment combination (Se 2 S 3 P 0 ) during both years and pooled mean basis. The results of this study are in close conformity with Sehrawat et al. (2003) [13] . The Maximum diameter (10.93, 9.10 10.02 cm respectively) was observed in treatment (Se 1 ) Kharif season followed by (Se 2 ) Rabi season during both the year (2019-20 and 2020-21) and on the basis of mean data. The minimum diameter of flower (7.89, 7.33 and 7.61 cm respectively) was recorded in treatment (Se 3 ) summer season during this investigation. Similar finding also reported by Rathore et al. (2007) [11] in Marigold. The maximum diameter of flower (11.08, 9.08 and 10.13 cm respectively) was observed under treatment (S 3 ) 50 x 50 cm and it was observed significant different with rest of the other treatments. Whereas, minimum diameters of flower (7.84, 7.32 and 7.58 cm respectively) was recorded under treatment (S 1 ) 30 x 30 cm during both the years and mean of two years. Similar trend was also reported by Ahirwar et al. (2018) [17] and Sheen et al. (2017) [16] in African Marigold. The maximum diameter of flower (9.82, 8.56 and 9.19 cm respectively) were recorded under treatments (P 0 ) no pinching and it was observed significant difference with rest of the other treatments during both the years (2019-20 and 2020-21) and on the basis of mean data. The minimum diameter of flower (8.95, 7.96 and 8.45 cm respectively) was recorded in treatments (P 2 ) double pinching under both the years and on the basis of mean data. Similar findings were also reported by Sheena et al. (2017) [16] in African Marigold. The interaction between Planting Season X Spacing X Pinching was found non-significant during both the years and pooled mean basis. The maximum duration of flower (57.08, 50.00 and 53.54 respectively) were recorded under treatment (Se 2 ) Rabi season both the year on the basis of mean data. The minimum duration of flower (45.93, 45.84, and 45.88 respectively) recorded under (Se 3 ) summer season as compared to other treatments in this investigation.The maximum flower duration (51.78, 52.43, 52.10 days respectively) was observed under treatment (S 1 ) 30 x 30 cm. Which was found statistically at par with treatment (S 2 )45 x 45 cm and (S 3 ) 50 x 50 cm under the investigation only first year 2019-20. The minimum flower duration data. The maximum flower duration (51.78, 52.43, 52.10 days respectively) was observed under treatment (S 1 ) 30 x 30 cm. Which was found statistically at par with treatment (S 2 ) 45 x 45 cm and (S 3 ) 50 x 50 cm under the investigation only first year 2019-20. The minimum flower duration (49.50, 44.36, and 46.93) days, respectively was recorded in treatment (S 3 ) 50 x 50 cm both the year and on the basis of mean data. Similar finding was observed by Sheena et al. (2017) [16] . In respect of pinching, it showed significant difference in duration of flower. The highest duration of flower (52.26, 51.66, 51.96 days) was observed under treatment (P 2 ) double pinching. Which was found statistically at par with treatment (P 1 ) single pinching under first year 2019-20. The minimum flower duration (48.53, 44.65 and 46.59 respectively) was recorded in treatment (P 0 ) no pinching during both the years 2019-20 and 2020-21 and on the basis of pooled data. Kumar et al. (2018) [3] recorded similar findings in African marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda and also find by Sheena et al. (2017) [16] . The interaction between Planting Season X Spacing X Pinching was found non-significant during both the years as well as pooled mean basis.

Flower yield Parameter

The maximum flower yield t/ha (21.76, 20.48 and 21.12 t/ha) was recorded in treatment (Se 1 ) Kharif seasons compared to other treatments in both year (2019-20 and 2020-21) and mean of two years. The minimum flower yields (15.60, 15.96 and 15.78 t/ha respectively) was recorded in treatment (Se 3 ) Summer season in both the years and mean of two years. Maximum flower yield t/ha (21.76, 20.48 and 21.12 t/ha) was recorded in treatment (S 1 ) 30 x 30 cm followed by (S 2 ) 45 x 45 cm (19.29, 18.32 and 18.80 t/ha) during both the years as well as on the basis of mean data. While the minimum flower yield t/ha (18.37, 18.00 and 18.18 t/ ha) was noted under treatment (S 3 ) 50 x 50 cm in respective years 2019-20 and 2020-21 and on the basis of mean data. The differences in spacing showed significant variation on flower yield (t/ha) was recorded maximum at closer spacing of 30 x 30 cm and minimum at a wider spacing of 50 x 50 cm. Hence, 30 x 30 cm was optimum spacing where the plants per unit area were optimum which facilitated better growth of the plants that resulted in higher flower yield per hectare as compared to other spacing. This result has been reported by Karuppaiah et al. (2005) [4] in Marigold. The highest flower yield (20.71, 19.81 and 20.26 t/ha) was observed under treatment (P 2 ) double pinching during both the years as well as on the basis of mean data. Whereas, the minimum flower yield (18.06, 17.85 and 17.96 t/h are respectively) was recorded under treatment (P 0 ) no pinching during both the years and on the basis of mean data. The interaction between Planting Season X Spacing X Pinching exhibited found significant impact during both the years and pooled mean basis. The maximum flower yield (t/ha) (26.12, 23.68, 24.90) respectively was observed under treatment combination (Se 1 S 1 P 2 ) which was found statistically at par with treatment Se 1 S 2 P 2 , Se 2 S 1 P 1 , Se 2 S 1 P 2 and Se 2 S 2 P 2 during first year, in second year treatments Se 1 S 3 P 2 , Se 2 S 1 P 0 , Se 2 S 1 P 1 and Se 1 S 1 P 1 , Se 2 S 1 P 2 , Se 2 S 2 P 2 pooled mean under this investigation. The minimum flower yield (13.78, 13.24, and 13.51 t/ha respectively) was observed in treatment combination (Se 3 S 3 P 0 ) during this investigation.

Conclusion

The findings of studies conducted on clearly showed that (Se 1 ) Kharif season proved better than (Se 3 ) Rabi season and planting space (S 1 ) 30 x 30 cm and P 2 i.e double pruning treatment which gave significantly highest values of yield and yield attributes as well as quality parameters. In consideration of planting space (S 3 ) 50 x 50 cm treatment produced significantly highest values of growth parameters of Marigold. Among transplant densities (S 3 )50 x 50 cm spacing provide better result in growth parameters, quality parameters and yield attributing parameters but in case of total yield per hectare transplant densities of (S 1 )30 x 30 cm gave maximum yield due to accommodation of more number of plant population.

The results obtained during the present investigation revealed that planting season (Se 1 S 1 P 2 ) i.e. Kharif season X 30 x 30 cm X double pinching is highly beneficial for improving growth and marketable yield.

References

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