Effects of different rates of nitrogen and pinching on yield and yield attributes of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.)

Abstract

Proper pinching practice and the optimum rate of nitrogen (N) enhance the production of marigold. An experiment was conducted at a farmer’s field in Gadawa-4, Gangaparaspur, Dang, Nepal from July 2018 to November 2018 to investigate the effects of different rates of nitrogen and pinching on yield and yield attributes of African marigold (cv. Kolkata Local). Two factorial experiment was laid in the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. There were eight treatments, consist of four rates of nitrogen (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg/ha) and two levels of pinching (pinching and non-pinching). The maximum plant height (89.70 cm), the diameter of flower (4.29 cm) and the fresh weight per flower (4.32 g) and early days to 50% flowering (61.58) were obtained at non- pinching. The highest number of flowers (60.66), yield per plant (237.49 g) and yield per hectare (9.89 t/ha) were obtained with pinching. The highest plant height (92.20 cm) was recorded at 150 kg/ha of N but the highest yield per plant (238.18 g) and yield per ha (9.91 t/ha) was obtained at 50 kg/ha of nitrogen application. No significant effect was noted on the days to 50% flowering, number of flowers per plant, fresh weight per flower and diameter of flowers by different rates of nitrogen. The interaction of pinching and different rates of nitrogen showed non- significant effect on yield per plant and yield per ha. But, the combination of pinching and nitrogen rates at 50 kg/ha recorded the maximum yield per plant (249.20 g) and yield per ha (10.36 t/ha). Hence it is suggested to use pinching practice with optimum application of nitrogen @ 50 kg/ha to obtain high yield of marigold.

Effects of Shoot Apex Removal on Growth and Yield Attributes of Cotton

“…Ohta and Ikeda (2016) and Ohta (2017) also reported that after the shoot the apex removal the number of flowers was notably increased due to the relatively greater availability of photosynthetic products and mineral nutrient uptake by increasing the leaf areas of lateral shoots. Our results are in line with Pandey et al (2021), who reported the maximum number of flowers plant -1 (237.49 g) was obtained after shoot apex removal as compared to the non-shoot apex removal plant (213.35 g). Likewise, Mohanty et al (2015) and Sarkar et al (2018) recorded the maximum yield per ha at pinching in the ornamental plant (African marigold varieties).…”

Effect of Plant Growth Regulators in African Marigold: A Review

“…Marigold, a promising flower species for Nepal (Khanal, 2014;Acharya et al, 2021;Pandey et al, 2021), native to North America (Jadhav, 2018;Narute et al, 2020) belongs to class Magnoliopsidae and family Asteraceae / compositae (Shafiullah et al, 2018;Singh et al, 2018) and has ornamental, pharmaceutical, ceremonial and antimicrobial properties (Gómez-Rodríguez et al, 2003) besides its use in landscape gardening (Shivaprakash et al, 2011). In addition, marigold in Nepal has cultural, religious (Dhakal & Bhattarai, 2017) and social importance.…”

“…Based on production, basically two species (African marigold: Tagetes erecta and French marigold: Tagetes petula) are common (Poudel et al, 2017;Pandey et al, 2021). African marigold being tall, producing large flowers are being used for aesthetic purpose and for preparing garlands.…”

“…The sales of a garland made up of marigold stand at around one million 300 thousand units (The Rising Nepal, 2015). Loose flowers like marigold and makhamali (globe amaranth) and its garland is imported to Nepal from India (30% demand being fulfilled through import from India, (FAN, 2018) particularly during Tihar, a festival of flowers and light (Pandey et al, 2021). Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Dhading, Nuwakot (Poudel et al, 2017), Lalitpur, Makawanpur, Chitwan, Kavre, etc.…”

“…Due to easier cultivation, wider adaptability (Kumar et al, 2014;Das et al, 2020), shorter life span and good keeping quality along with wider variability in color (Pandey et al, 2021), shape, size (Arora, 1988;Kumar et al, 2010;Mohanaty et al, 2018) fragrance, ease of transportation, lucrative returns (Acharya et al, 2021), etc. marigold gets attention among the flower growers in a developing country like Nepal.…”