Vol. 12, Special Issue 10 (2023)

Author(s):
Prabhas Sidhya, Indrajit Sarkar, Dipayan Sarkar, Soumen Maitra, Arpita Mandal Khan, Ayon Roy and Suprakash Pal

Abstract:
Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) is a spectacular flowering plant known as the "Queen of the East" ranked second only to rose in terms of cut and loose flower crop. The selection of acceptable cultivars is a crucial aspect in export-oriented commercial floriculture; nevertheless, research on this region is quite limited. The present study aimed to evaluate and select suitable spray chrysanthemum cultivars for commercial cultivation in Terai region of West Bengal. The experiment was conducted in the instructional Farm, Department of Floriculture, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Faculty of Horticulture, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya during the period of September to February of 2018-19 and 2019-20. Forty different cultivars of spray chrysanthemum were evaluated based on their growth and flowering parameters. Results revealed that plant height varied from 23.63 cm to 76.71 cm where maximum plant height was observed in Bidhan Antara, number of flowers per plant varied from 28.15 to 136.50 where maximum total number of flowers per plant was observed in Yellow Baby and minimum in Punjab Gold and the flower head diameter varied from 1.23cm to 7.96 cm where Local Yellow- 2 reported the maximum flower diameter and minimum flower diameter was observed in Yellow Baby.