Impact of planting geometry and organic nutrient management on growth performance of Artemisia annua L.

Introduction

Artemisia annua L., belongs to the Asteraceae family. It is a tall herb with a single main stem and alternating branches, often reaching a height of more than 2.0 meters. The leaves are aromatic; deeply split, and range in length from 2.5 to 5 cm. Trichomes, which are composed of five-celled filamentous trichomes and ten-celled biseriate trichomes, are present in both the leaves and the flowers (Mojarad et al., 2019) [13] . It is typically found growing in steppe vegetation in the northern parts of the provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, at elevations between 1000 and 1500 meters above sea level. Since then, it has established itself in several nations, including the US (Ajah and Eteng, 2010; Mojarad et al., 2019) [1,13] . About 400 species of Artemisia are found worldwide, mostly in Asia, Europe, and North America. There are 31 species of Artemisia in India; 21 of those are found only in the Jammu and Kashmir region (Bhellum, 2013) [3] . The Indigenous communities in Jammu and Kashmir use a substantial number of Artemisia species for ethnomedical purposes. (Gairola et al., 2014) [7] . Artemisia annua L. is mostly grown in China for its therapeutic qualities. It has important medicinal and commercial uses. It is commonly known that this plant is wind-pollinated and can be found in a variety of temperate northern hemisphere locations, especially arid and semi-arid ones. Its distribution in the southern hemisphere is restricted, despite its prevalence in mid-to high-latitude regions (Mohamed et al., 2019) [11] . Beyond its use in medicine, Artemisia annua is a source of scent chemicals for the fragrance business in Europe and India (Bakuni et al., 2001) [2] . The most important factor influencing the success or failure of plant establishment is seed germination (Kader and Jutzi, 2004) [9] . A unique set of conditions is needed for each species for seed germination because of environmental changes and adaptive radiation (Thompson, 1974) [22] . Seeds and seedlings are exposed to many environmental conditions in nature, such as salinity, temperature, and wetness. Inability to overcome the hardship brought on by these extremes causes poor germination, poor development of seedlings, and ultimately lower agricultural yields (Helmerick and Pfeifer 1954; Onen, 2006) [8,15] . The herb's other benefits include lowering fever, eliminating parasites, guarding against ulcers, and lowering inflammation (Sanja et al., 2012) [20] . Artemisinin is a widely used medicine for malaria that is expensive and hard to come by on the global market (Enserink, 2005) [5] . To meet the increasing demand for artemisinin, it is necessary to expand Artemisia annua cultivation to geographical areas (Rezelman and Goris, 2008) [18] . Famous for its medicinal qualities, Artemisia annua is especially valued for being a natural source of artemisinin. Artemisinin is a powerful substance that is categorized as a cadinane-type sesquiterpene lactone with an endperoxide bridge. It is extremely effective against strains of Plasmodium falciparum that are resistant to quinine and chloroquine, as well as other parasites that cause malaria (Pandey et al., 1999) [16] . Ayurvedic, homeopathic, and folk medicine systems all use Artemisia annua, a highly powerful antimalarial herb. Historical records from China reveal that aqueous extracts of the dried plant were traditionally used to cure many maladies including fever, malaria, skin disorders, jaundice, and hemorrhoids (Nofal et al.,2009; Kumaresan et al.,2014) [14,10] .

Materials and Methods Study Area:

The study was carried out in Nursery of Division of Forest products and Utilization, Faculty of Forestry, SKUAST-Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India in the year 2024 for standardization of cultivation techniques of Artemisiaannua species. The experimental site falls in a mid to high altitude characterized by hot summers and very cold winters. The average precipitation is 690mm, most of which was received from December to April in the form of snow and rain. The total rainfall (mm) during the experimentation period was 281.2 and 418.80 mm, respectively and means temperature was 24 o C.

Treatment details

The experiment was laid using 10 cuttings per treatment in three replication under four levels of spacing cm (S1:45×45,S2:45×60 and S3:60×60) and four levels of vermicompost application q/ha (V1: 0, V2: 100, V3:125, V4: 150) through two factorial randomized complete block design (RCBD), accordingly the data was analyzed in R Studio, version 4.2.2, 2022 (R Development Core Team, 2022).

Duration of the study

The study was carried out for 1 year. The seeds of Artemisia annua were collected in March2024 from the RCFC North II, Wadura, Sopore, Kashmir region of Jammu and Kashmir State and were sown in trays. The Seedlings were transplanted in field in May 2024 and data for observations were recorded in October 2024 and harvested in November.

Observations Recorded

Height of plant (cm), Collar diameter (mm), No. of branches/plant, Plant fresh weight (g), Plant Dry weight (g), Essential oil.

Results and Discussion

Artemisia annua native to the Himalayan region is one of the most popular medicinal plant species around the world. The leaves have immense medicinal uses, particularly anti-malarial properties. The species is listed in prioritized medicinal plants by the National medicinal plant board of the country. The data in Table 1 illustrates that significant differences were found among spacing and nitrogen applications, where maximum height was observed in the case of S1 (223 cm) and V4 (242 cm). It was also found that there exists a significant interaction between spacing and application of vermicompost where a maximum height of 245 cm was observed in case of S1XV4. The results are in concurrence with the study of Choudhari et al.,(2013) [4] and Reddy et al., (2017) [17] who studied the effect of plant spacing and vermicompost dosage on plant height, herbage yield and essential oil yields and nutrient uptake. S= 3.72S1:45x45 cm, S2:45x60 cm, S3:60x60 cm V= 4.29V1:0, V2:100 q/ha., V3:125 q/ha, V4: 150 q/ha S x V=7.44

The color diameter was recorded highest in S2 and V4 and in treatment combination S2V4 (Table -2). This may be because up to certain spacing plant growth occurs in Artemisia annua and after full growth there is no effect of spacing. The same result was also shown by Tahir et al, 2023 [21] , while studying the growth parameters of Artemisia absinthium under different spacings. The species also shows higher growth as vermicompost dosage were optimumbecause either the soil is deficient in nutrient, or the species requires abundant nutrient for its growth. S = 0.59S1:45×45 cm, S2:45×60 cm, S3:60×60 cm V= 0.61V1:0, V2:100 q/ha., V3:125 q/ha, V4: 150 q/ha S x V=0.27

The other growth parameters like no. of branches, plant fresh weight (g), plant dry weight (g), essential oil were also recorded highest in S2, V4 treatments and S2V4 treatment combination. (Table-3,4,5,6) due to the reason that Artemisia annua needs appropriate spacing for its growth and plant spread and optimum dosages of vermicompost for higher biomass and seed weight and concluded in the studies of Gaibi et al., (2019) [6] and Sabira et al., (2024) [19] . CD (p≤0.05) S = 1.48S1:45×45 cm, S2:45×60 cm, S3:60×60 cm V= 1.71V1:0, V2:100 q/ha., V3:125 q/ha, V4: 150 q/ha S x V=2.96 c S = 11.71S1:45×45 cm, S2:45×60 cm, S3:60×60 cm V= 13.53V1:0, V2:100 q/ha., V3:125 q/ha, V4: 150 q/ha S x V= 23.43 CD (p≤0.05) S = 11.19S1:45×45 cm, S2:45×60 cm, S3:60×60 cm V= 12.93V1:0, V2:100 q/ha., V3:125 q/ha, V4: 150 q/ha S x V= 22.39 S = 0.21S1:45×45 cm, S2:45×60 cm, S3:60×60 cm V= 0.18 V1:0, V2:100 q/ha., V3:125 q/ha, V4: 150 q/ha S x V= 0.37

Interaction effect of spacing and vermicompost on growth

Our study reveals that spacing and vermicompost have a significant effect on different growth parameters viz., height of plant, number of branches per plant, fresh weight and dry weight of Artemisia annua viz., height of plant under S1V3 (45cm x 45cm and 125q/ha) exhibited maximum plant height, while in collar diameter, number of branches per plant,fresh weight, and dry weight plant under S2V3 (45 cm x 60 cm and 125 q/ha).

No.of branches per plant (75), fresh weight (1215g), dry weight (619g) and essential oil (1.50 ml) as compared to the plants under S1V1 (45 cm x 45 cm spacing and 0% vermicompost). Also spacing and vermicompost have a non-significant effect on collar diameter and essential oil. Our results are closely related with the study of Mohamed et al., (2023) [12] who studied "Influence of planting distances in presence of chemical fertilization and compost on growth, essential oil, artemisinin content and chemical constituents of Artemisia annua L.

Conclusion

Artemisia annua was cultivated in division of forest products and utilization to standardize its cultivation techniques under different spacing's and vermicompost dosages. Total three spacing's and four vermicompost treatments were analyzed to determine the best treatment combinations for better growth of the species under temperate conditions. It was concluded that the species can be cultivated as cash crops under temperate conditions of Kashmir valley subjected to 45 x 60 cm spacing and 125 q/t of vermicompost per hectare.

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