International Journal of Horticulture and Floriculture

International Journal of Horticulture and Floriculture ISSN 2167-0455 Vol. 4 (3), pp. 224-232, October, 2016. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Effects of concentration of daminozide and maleic hydrazide on growth, physiology and flowering of spray chrysanthemum var. Punch

Jeyakumar A. Kannan¹*, M. N. Jawaharlal ¹, Vijay G. Singh¹ and Sellappan H. Ganesh

¹Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 641 003, Tamil Nadu, India.

²Depratment of Crop Physiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 641 003, Tamil Nadu, India.

Email: [email protected]

Accepted 10 September, 2016

Abstract

Growth retardants have been proven to prevent excessive stem elongation and reduce internode length in plants by inhibiting the effect of cell division and enlargement of cell in plants. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of concentrations of daminozide and maleic hydrazide on growth, physiology and flowering of chrysanthemum cultivar Punch under protected condition. The treatments composed of two growth retardants: daminozide at four different concentrations (1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500 ppm) with three frequencies (7, 14 and 21 days after darkening) and maleic hydrazide at three different concentrations (500, 750 and 1000 ppm) with two frequencies (7 and 21 days after darkening) along with control (no spray given). Hence based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that single application of daminozide at 2500 ppm at seven days after darkening reduced the plant height at considerable height (34.33, 83.33 and 103.58 cm) at critical stages and improved total leaf area (1694.55 and 1745.27 cm²) at bud appearance and peak flowering stage and showed earliness in flowering and days to harvest (44.72 and 81.33 day), increased pedicel length (5.87 cm), cut stem girth (3.24 cm), stem fresh weight (68.00 g/stem) and chlorophyll (1.93, 2.53 and 2.80 mg/g) and soluble protein content (65.66, 72.33 and 80.66 mg/g) at critical stages. Increased cut stem yield (77.34 stems/m²) and improved vase life (12.50 day) were also recorded. This may be recommended to improve growth and flower quality of ‘Punch’ chrysanthemum under greenhouse conditions.

Key words: Chrysanthemum, daminozide, maleic hydrazide, growth, flowering.

International Journal of Horticulture and Floriculture ISSN 2167-0455 Vol. 4 (2), pp. 217-223, September, 2016. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Awareness and adoption of common soil amendments for urban horticulture

Akosua Hugh Vicker¹*, Nana O. Freddy² and Tony Y. Asamoah ¹

¹Department of Horticulture, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.

²Department of Horticulture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 20 July, 2016

Abstract

The search for suitable alternatives to loam, manure and sand based growing media in Ghana has generated a substantial body of literature on potential amendments akin to the peat based media in developed countries. The objectives of this study were to review literature on potential soil amendments in Ghana, determine the reasons for farmer choice of amendments and determine factors influencing farmer adoption of these amendments. Document review and survey were the main methods used in data collection. The review of literature indicates that the research and discourse on soil amendment over the last two decades have largely been limited to land management and nutrient recovery from waste. Although these have largely been reported as successful, they have not addressed the quality issues of soil amendments as finished product for application in specific production systems. As the amendments are not standardized, farmers adopt varying application rates based on their own experiences. Barriers in the use of amendments were found to be the technology to collect, funds to purchase and labour employment. The agro-ecology and the farmers’ level of education largely determined the use of particular amendment. The study found wide scale acceptance and adoption of sawdust based poultry litter by urban vegetable farmers, hence the co-composting of sawdust and poultry manure would be the best option that can be developed and standardised for application in urban horticulture. Future research in soil amendment should therefore focus on net N mineralisation, stability indices and the responses of vegetable and ornamental plants to different ratios of co-composting of sawdust and poultry manure.

Key words: Growing media, soil amendment, urban horticulture, composting, organic waste, urban farmers

International Journal of Horticulture and Floriculture ISSN 2167-0455 Vol. 4 (1), pp. 208-216, August, 2016. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Demographic factors in procuring ornamental plants marketing as a career 

Ecevit Mustafa Erdoğan

Department of Agricultural Administration and Marketing, University of Kocaeli, Kocaeli, Turkey.

E-mail: em.erdoğ[email protected]

Abstract

There are several factors in acquiring a profession in the present day, that is, in the late 20th century and beginning of 21st century. The most important of these factors are demographic factors. Of those demographic factors, the characteristics such as gender, education level, income level and age are effective. Therefore, people prefer jobs suitable to their own socio-economic structures and gender when they begin to work. In this study, the demographic factors, the effects of gender, age, education level and income level on acquiring floriculture profession were investigated. The results obtained from the field study entitled the effect of demographic factors in the profession of ornamental plants marketing (floriculture) are quite impressive. In the survey conducted in the different points of the provinces Istanbul and Kocaeli, randomly selected 50 subjects were taken as sample and the data were analyzed by SPSS 16.0 program by using several statistical methods. 51 of the subjects were female and 99 were male. This situation shows that masculine station comes to the forefront in floriculture as it does in every profession. Mostly middle-aged or elder people do this profession. Additionally, education is also known as effective in acquiring a profession. However, there may be no need for education for some jobs. It was seen that 54 of the subjects were graduates of primary school, 60 of them were graduates of secondary school, 30 of high school and 6 of universities. This study indicated that people who are graduates of primary and secondary school were more in ornamental plants marketing (in floriculture) and education was not important for the profession of floriculture. 

Key words: Floriculture, marketing, occupational gender, socio-economic structure.

International Journal of Horticulture and Floriculture ISSN 2167-0455 Vol. 3 (4), pp. 179-207, November, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Effect of Jatropha curcas, Psidium guajava and Andrographis paniculata leaf extracts on postharvest performance of cut Mokara red orchid flowers

Md. Muklesur Rahman^{1, 2*}, Siti Hajar Ahmad², Mahmud Tengku Muda Mohamed² and Sayed Mohamed Zain Bin S. Hasan¹

¹Department of Post-Harvest Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.

²Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 9 October, 2015

Abstract

The effect and optimum concentration of Jatropha curcas, Psidium guajava and Andrographis paniculata single leaf extract (SLE) and double combination leaf extracts (DCLE) on postharvest performance of cut Mokara Red orchid flowers was studied. The 15 mg/L DCLE of P. guajava and A. paniculata containing floral preservative solutions had the stable pH (initial pH 3.0) compared to the pH of SLE floral preservative solutions, resulting in extended vase life of the cut flowers. Moreover, flowers in the above preservative solutionstreated flowers retained better petal colour than the colour in the other treated flowers. Thus, 15 mg/L DCLE-Pg+Ap was used in subsequent experiments to evaluate the long vase life of cut flowers based on higher rates of preservative solutions uptake. The all-preservative solutions contained two groups of bacteriaand three fungi. The 15 mg/L DCLE-Pg+Ap had lower bacterial populations compared to the 15 mg/L DCLE-Jc+Ap, except in fungal growth. Therefore, DCLE-Pg+Ap had the potential as a natural preservative solutions to extend the 3 days more vase life of orchid flowers compared to the control containing 8-HQC (8-hydroxyquinoline citrate). Future research needs to examine which microbes are responsible for xylem blockage and their effects on the postharvest performance of cut flowers.

Key words: Double combination leaf extracts, floral preservative solutions, microorganism, petal colour, single leaf extract, vase life.

International Journal of Horticulture and Floriculture ISSN 2167-0455 Vol. 3 (3), pp. 168-178, October, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

A study of stability evaluation of components characters in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp)

Urabi Badawi¹,  Hussein Tantawi¹, Abdel Kamal¹ and Hassan Ali²

¹Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

 ²Department of Soil, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.

Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 05 August, 2015

Abstract

Stability of yield and its attributes were assessed for nineteen genotypes over twelve environments (two seasons 2009 and 2010 × six planting dates), to determine the quantitative responses of cowpea genotypes. The interaction between genotypes and environments (G×E) were significant for all the characters studied characters except pod length, hundred seed weight and weight of pods per plant. The longest pods and heaviest hundred seeds weight were produced by genotype TVU 21, IT82C-116, providing the highest number of seeds per plant. Whereas, Sudany genotypes gave the highest number of pods per plant and heaviest seeds per plant, Blackeye Crowder genotypes had the heaviest pods per plant and total dry seed yield. The best season and planting date are fall season, third planting date (August, 15^th) for most studied traits. The stable genotypes were Chinese Red, IT81D1064, IT85F2205 and Sudany for total dry seed yield.

Key words: Sowing dates, stability parameters, genotype × environment, selection, grain yield.