Areca catechu L.

71 Pages·2017·6.04 MB·English

STUDIES ON FLOWERING BEHAVIOUR OF
ARECANUT (Areca catechu L.) GERMPLASM IN TERAI
AGRO-CLIMATIC ZONE OF WEST BENGAL

A Thesis
Submitted to the
Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Science (Horticulture)

In

PLANTATION CROPS AND PROCESSING

By

ARCHANA .C

DEPARTMENT OF PLANTATION CROPS AND PROCESSING
FACULTY OF HORTICULTURE
UTTAR BANGA KRISHI VISWAVIDYALAYA
PUNDIBARI, COOCH BEHAR, PIN-736165
WEST BENGAL
2017
DEDICATED
TO
MY BELOVED
PARENTS
True guidance is like a small torch in a
dark forest, it doesn’t show everything
once.
But gives enough light for the next step to
be safe.

- Swami Vivekananda
UTTAR BANGA KRISHI VISWAVIDYALAYA
Faculty of Horticulture
DEPARTMENT OF PLANTATION CROPS AND PROCESSING
P.O. Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal-736165, India.

From:
Dr. P. S. Medda
Associate professor and Head
Chairman, Advisory Committee Website: www.ubkv.ac.in
E-mail id: [email protected] Ph. No.: 9474567593 (M)

R ef No: Dated:

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that thesis entitled” Studies on flowering behavior of Arecanut (Areca
Catechu L.) germplasm in Terai agro-climatic zones of West Bengal”, submitted by Miss.
ARCHANA. C in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science
(Horticulture) in Plantation Crops and Processing of the faculty of Horticulture of Uttar Banga
Krishi Vishwavidyalaya is an indisputable record of authentic research work carried out under
my guidance and supervision. The results of the investigation reported in this thesis have not so
far been submitted for any other degree or diploma. The assistance and help received from
various source during the course of investigation have been duly acknowledged.

Date:

Place: Pundibari, Cooch Behar (Dr.P.S.Medda)
Chairman
Advisory committee
APPROVAL OF EXAMINERS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF

SCIENCE IN HORTICULTURE
PLANTATION CROPS AND PROCESSING

We, the undersigned, having been satisfied with the performance of Miss. ARCHANA. C
in the viva-voce examination on final examination of thesis, conducted today,
the…………................2017, recommended that the thesis entitled “Studies on flowering
behavior of Arecanut (Areca Catechu L.) germplasm in Terai agro-climatic zones of West
Bengal” be accepted for the award of the Degree of Master of Science (Horticulture) in
Plantation Crops and Processing of Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya.

SL.
Name Designation Signature
NO.
Dr. P. S. Medda Head, Department of Plantation
1.
crops and Processing,
Chairman, Advisory Committee
2. ………………………….. External Examiner
3. Dr. H. Bhattacharjee Member, Advisory Committee
4. Dr. Bidhan Roy Member, Advisory Committee
5. Dr. A. Ghosh Member, Advisory Committee
6. Mr. Nilesh Bhowmick Member, Advisory Committee
7. …………………………….. Dean, Post Graduate Studies
Acknowledgement

This thesis is the partial fulfillment of my journey in obtaining my
M.Sc horticulture. This thesis has been kept on track and been seen
through to completion with the support and encouragement of numerous
people. At the end, it is a pleasant task to express my thanks to all those
who contributed in many ways to the success of this study and made it an
unforgettable experience for me.
To commence with, I pay my obeisance to GOD, the almighty to
have bestowed upon me good health, courage, inspiration, zeal and the
light. At this moment of accomplishment, I pay homage to my chairman,
Dr. P. S. MEDDA, Associate Professor, Department of Plantation Crops
and Processing for his continuous support and encouragement. His
guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. I
could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my M.Sc
(Horticulture) study.
I owe my special thanks to Dr. Bidhan Roy, Associate Professor,
Department of Seed Science and Technology, for analyzing the data and
for his valuable advice and helpful suggestions regarding the experiment.
I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude and
respectful regards to my advisory committee members, Dr. H.
Bhattacharjee, Associate Professor, Department of Plantation Crops and
Processing, Dr. A. Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural
Statistics, Mr. Nilesh Bhowmick, Assistant Professor, Department of Fruit
Science and Post-harvest technology.
I expand my thanks to all the teaching staff Dr. B. Dutta, Assistant
Professor, Department of Plantation Crops and Processing and Mrs.
Srilekha Das Assistant Professor, Department of Plantation Crops and
Processing and other non-teaching staff members Sri. Gautam, Sri. Pijusa
Saha and Sri. Devasis Das of Department of Plantation Crops and
Processing for their help and co-operation at different stages of my study.
I gratefully acknowledge to Helal da, Rasidul da, Abhijit da, Sadhu
da, during the field work to make the work success, will never be forgotten.
I sincerely admire the contribution of all my seniors Sathi babu sir,
Yugandhar Sir, Ravi sir, Rakesh sir, Ranjith sir, Sachin sir, Asha akka
along with my batchmates, Anjeneyulu, Basab, Susmita, Samaresh,
Sourav, Abhijith, Urjashi, Navneet and my juniors Supriya, Punya,
Harshitha, Vyshnavi, Dinesh, Rangaswamy, Sanjay, for extending their
unstinted support, timely motivation, sympathetic attitude and unfailing
help during the course of entire study.
I feel a deep sense of gratitude to my parents Mr. Chandre Gowda
S. V. and Mrs. Sudha who formed a part of my vision and taught me the
good things that really matter in life. Words prove a meagre media to write
down my feelings for my Grandparents, my cousins and my beloved
relatives for providing me constant encouragement and supporting me
spiritually throughout.
Finally, my cordial thanks go to all the people who have supported
me to complete the research work directly or indirectly and whose names,
I forgot to mention in the endeavor.

Place: Pundibari, CoochBehar. …………………
Date… ……………. (Archana. C)
ABSTRACT

Title of the Thesis : Studies on flowering behaviour of Arecanut (Areca catechu L.)
germplasm in Terai agro-climatic zone of West Bengal
Name of the student : Archana C
Registration number : H-2015-03-M
Name of the Chairman : Dr. P. S. Medda
Degree to be awarded : Master of Science (Horticulture) in Plantation Crops and
Processing

The present investigation entitled “Studies on flowering behavior of Arecanut germplasm in
Terai agro-climatic zone of West Bengal” were carried out during the year 2016 and 2017 at the
instructional farm of the Department of Plantation Crops & Processing of Uttar Banga Krishi
Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar. The experiment was laid out in factorial Randomized
Block Design involving two factors namely cultivars and inflorescence respectively with six
germplasms namely Kahikuchi, Sumangala, Sreemangala, Mangala, Mohitnagar and Local cv. to
study the flowering behavior of Arecanut germplasm with different characters relating to flowering
behavior and yield attributes.
It was observed that all the cultivars recorded almost similar number of female flowers and
and female phase of the spadices without having statistically significant variation. However, the
cultivar Mohitnagar recorded highest nut percentage (47.17%) followed by the cultivar Sreemangala
(38.78%). The maximum value was recorded in Mohitnagar (9.14 g) for dry kernel yield followed by
Sreemangala, though the local cv. recorded maximum volume and fresh weight of the nut. The
lowest weight was recorded for Kahikuchi (7.47 g). Heritability (H2) estimates varied from 38.33 to
98.18% (Table 4.3.2). Those characters that showed low difference between GCV and PCV had
higher heritability. Highest heritability was observed for yield (98.18%) followed by fresh husk
weight (81.68%), nut volume (80.63%), fresh nut weight (78.30%) and dry husk weight (70.47%).
Positive significant correlation only at genotypic level was observed between number of female
flowers and fresh nut weight (0.567), number of female flowers and fresh husk weight (0.593),
number of female flowers and fresh kernel weight (0.520), number of female flowers and dry husk
weight (0.766), number of female flowers and dry kernel weight (0.865), number of flower set and
nut set (0.628). Negative significant correlation at genotypic and phenotypic levels was observed in
between nut set and number of male flower (-0.720 and -0.429, respectively).

………………………………… ………………………………..
(Chairman Signature) (Student Signature)
ABBREVIATIONS

% per cent
/ per
@ at the rate of
°C degree centigrade
mm millimeter
cm centimeter
et al. and others
Fig. figure
g gram
kg kilogram
FYM farm yard manure
No. number
R.H. relative humidity
T temperature
Max. maximum
Min. minimum
ha hectare
Cv. cultivar
RBD Randomized block design
i.e., that is
SEm Standard Error of Means
CD Co-efficient of difference
GCV Genotypic co-efficient of variation

PCV Phenotypic co-efficient of variation
2
H Heritability
GA Genetic advance
wt weight
t tonnes
yr year
cc cubic centimeter
MOP muriate of potash
MT metric tonnes