Effect of varieties and spacing on growth and yield of African marigold

Introduction

African marigold (Tagetes erecta. Linn.) is a resilient annual ornamental crop of the Asteraceae family that possesses a hardy herbaceous growth habit with erect branching and dark green, pinnately divided leaves. Its flowers vary from single to fully double globular heads displaying rich color range from lemon-yellow to deep orange. This also attributes to its commercial marketability, providing floriculturists with rapid floral turnover and fast economic returns. Among different cultivation techniques, selecting proper varieties plays a major role in driving significant improvements in floral quality, growth, and overall yield parameters. Choosing proper varieties directly enhances field yield per hectare to maximize commercial market value. Furthermore, plant spacing is a critical cultural practice that actively regulates competition for solar radiation, soil nutrients, and moisture. By altering the microclimate and inter-plant competition, spacing directly determines structural growth alongside overall yield. Ultimately, combining proper varietal selection with ideal plant spacing drives maximum productivity. Together, these practices help floriculturists maximize total yield per hectare while maintaining premium flower quality. Thus, the present investigation have been made to select the proper variety and spacing for increasing the flower production.

Materials and Methods

The present investigation entitled "Effect of varieties and spacing on growth and yield of African marigold" was carried out during kharif season of the year 2025-26 at Experimental Unit, Horticultural Section, College of Agriculture, Nagpur. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design with factor (A) having six different varieties (Arka Bhanu, Pusa Narangi Gainda, Arka Shubha, Pusa Basanti Gainda, Arka Abhi, Pusa Bahar) and Factor (B) having three levels of spacing (60 cm X 45 cm, 45 cm X 45 cm, 45 cm X 30 cm) with eighteen treatment combinations replicated twice. The experiment was carried out on a flat bed with a gross plot size of 3.60 m × 2.25 m. Seedlings were raised in a nursery bed and transferred into the main field. i.e., Second week of july A recommended dose of inorganic fertilizer NPK hectare -1 i.e., 100:50:50 ha -1 NPK was uniformly applied to all experimental plots to supply essential nutrients. The observations in respect of growth parameters i.e., plant height, number of branches plant -1 , diameter of stem, plant spread at 50 percent flowering, fresh weight of plant and dry weight of plant and with respect to yield parameters i.e., number of flowers plant -1 , yield plant -1 and yield hectare -1 were recorded. The data was analyzed statistically as per the methods described by Panse and Sukhatme (1967) [15] Results 1 Growth parameters 1.1 Effect of varieties on growth parameters The data from Table 1 exhibited the significant difference among the varieties on growth parameters. Significantly maximum plant height (89.50 cm), number of primary branches plant -1 (19.58), number of secondary branches plant -1 (38.72), diameter of stem (1.55 cm), plant spread at 50 percent flowering i.e., East-west (45.56 cm) and Northsouth (40.69 cm), Fresh weight of plant at 50 percent flowering stage (476.40 g) and dry weight of plant at 50 percent flowering stage (149.72 g) were recorded in the variety Arka Bhanu followed by Arka Shubha while the minimum was recorded in variety Pusa Narangi Gainda. This marked variation in plant across growth stages is primarily attributed to the inherent genetic makeup, vigour branching behavior, and canopy architecture characteristic of each specific variety. These findings are in close conformity with the observations of Narsude et al. (2010) [12] , Gobade et al. (2017) [4] , Khatri et al. (2019) [6] and Thirumalmurugan et al. (2020) [14] in African marigold.

Effect of spacing on growth parameters

The data from Table 1 exhibited the significant difference among the spacings on growth parameters. Significantly maximum number of primary branches plant -1 (17.13), number of secondary branches plant -1 (36.93), diameter of stem (1.43 cm), plant spread at 50 percent flowering i.e., East-west (46.43 cm) and North-south (37.93 cm), Fresh weight of plant at 50 percent flowering stage (433.88 g) and dry weight of plant at 50 percent flowering stage (129.73 g) were recorded under wider spacing (60 cm × 45 cm) followed by intermediate spacing (45 cm × 45 cm) while the minimum was recorded under closer spacing (45 cm × 30 cm). However, closer spacing (45 cm × 30 cm) recorded maximum plant height (89.50 cm) which was followed by intermediate spacing (45 cm X 45 cm) while the minimum plant height was recorded under wider spacing (60 cm × 45 cm). The progressive increase in plant height observed within the closer planting might be a direct physiological adaptation to restricted spatial limits per unit area while for other growth parameters it is attributed to response to reduced crop population pressure per unit area. These experimental findings are in close conformity with the findings described by Beniwal et al. (2005) [2] , Karuppaiah and Krishna (2005) [5] and Meena et al. (2015) [11] and in African marigold.

Interaction effect of varieties and spacing on growth parameters

The data from Table 2 revealed that the interaction effect between different marigold varieties and spacingswas found non-significant in respect of plant height, number of primary branches, stem diameter, fresh weight of plant and dry weight of plant except for number of secondary branches plant -1 .Number of secondary branches plant -1 , at 90 days after transplanting, the treatment combination of the variety Arka Bhanu planted under the wider spacing of 60 cm x 45 cm showed the maximum number of secondary branches plant -1 (44.25) which was at par with the combination of the variety Arka Shubha planted under the wider spacing of 60 cm x 45 cm. However, the minimum number of secondary branches plant -1 was observed in the variety Pusa Narangi Gainda planted under closer spacing of 45 cm x 30 cm.

Yield parameters 2.1 Effect of varieties on yield parameters

The data from Table 1 exhibited the significant difference among the varieties on yield parameters. Significantly maximum number of flower plant -1 (53.53), flower yield plant -1 (306.13 g) and flower yield hectare -1 (15.88 t) was recorded in the variety Arka Bhanu followed by the variety Arka Shubha. However, Pusa Narangi gainda recorded the minimum values in above mentioned parameters. This variation in yield of different varieties can be attributed to a higher production of lateral branches and distinct genotypic traits. These findings are in close agreement with the experimental results reported by Narsude et al. (2010) [12] , Markam et al. (2017) [10] and Mahanta et al. (2020) [9] in marigold.

Effect of spacing on yield parameters

The data from Table 1 exhibited the significant differences among the spacing on yield parameters. Significantly maximum number of flower plant -1 (52.64) and flower yield plant -1 (287.45 g) was recorded under wider spacing of 60 cm × 45 cm followed by intermediate spacing of 45 cm × 45 cm. However, closer spacing of 45 cm × 30 cm recorded the minimum values in above mentioned parameters. However, flower yield hectare -1 (15.57 t) was recorded maximum under closer spacing of 45 cm × 30 cm whereas flower yield hectare -1 was recorded minimum under wider spacing of 60 cm × 45 cm. The notable increase in yield plant -1 under wider spacings can be attributed to the increased development of lateral branches plant -1 whereas increase in yield hectare -1 is due to increase in plant population per unit area. These results align with previous observations by Ahirwar (2012) [1] Lakshmi et al., (2014) [7] , Rolaniya et al., (2017) [13] and Dhruw (2021) [3] in African marigold.

Interaction effect of varieties and spacing on yield parameters

The data from Table 2 revealed that the interaction effect between marigold varieties and spacings was found statistically significant for number of flower plant -1 , flower yield hectare -1 and petal meal plant -1 . With respect to number of flowers plant -1 , treatment combination of variety Arka Bhanu planted under the wider spacing of 60 cm × 45 cm recorded the maximum number of flowers plant -1 (57.74), which was found to be statistically at par with Arka Abhi planted under wider spacing of 60 cm × 45 cm (57.30) and Arka Shubha under wider spacing of 60 cm × 45 cm (54.90). Whereas, the minimum number of flowers plant -1 was recorded in Pusa Narangi Gainda grown under closer spacing of 45 cm × 30 cm (39.62). With respect to flower yield plant -1 , treatment combination of variety Arka Bhanu grown under the wider spacing of 60 cm × 45 cm recorded the maximum flower yield plant -1 (349.28 g), which was found to be statistically at par with Arka Shubha grown under wider spacing of 60 cm × 45 cm, Arka Bhanu grown under intermediate spacing of 45 cm × 45 cm and Arka Abhi grown under wider spacing of 60 cm × 45 cm. Whereas, the minimum flower yield plant -1 was recorded in Pusa Narangi Gainda grown under closer spacing of 45 cm × 30 cm. Whereas in respect of treatment combination of variety Arka Bhanu planted under the closer spacing of 45 cm × 30 cm (19.79 t) recorded maximum flower yield hectare -1 which was found to be at par with variety Arka Shubha planted under closer spacing of 45 cm × 30 cm (17.58 t). The minimum flower yield hectare -1 was obtained under variety Pusa Narangi Gainda planted under the wider spacing of 60 cm × 45 cm (7.75 t). This might be attributed to the higher total plant population per unit area alongside the variation in each variety's genetic potential to efficiently convert resources into total floral biomass. These results align with previous observations by Lambe (2012) [8] and Dhruw (2021) [3] in African marigold.

Conclusion

Based on the experimental findings, it is concluded that the performance of African marigold in terms of growth and yield was significantly influenced by the evaluated varieties and plant spacing treatments. In respect of growth parameters, variety Arka Bhanu under wider spacing has shown better results except for plant height. With respect to yield i.e., number of flower plant -1 and total yield plant -1 were recorded maximum in the variety Arka Bhanu under wider spacing. While, flower yield hectare -1 was found maximum in variety Arka Bhanu under closer spacing.

References

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