Influence of Agrometeorological Indices on Phenology of African Marigold (Tagetes erecta L.)
Breanila Paul A *
Department of Agricultural Meteorology, College of Agriculture Vellanikkara, KAU, Thrissur, India.
P. Lincy Davis
Department of Agricultural Meteorology, College of Agriculture Vellanikkara, KAU, Thrissur, India.
B. Ajithkumar
Department of Agricultural Meteorology, College of Agriculture Vellanikkara, KAU, Thrissur, India.
Mini Sankar
Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Agriculture Vellanikkara, KAU, Thrissur, India.
Sajitha Vijayan. M
Department of Agricultural Statistics, College of Agriculture Vellanikkara, KAU, Thrissur, India.
Arjun Vysakh
Department of Agricultural Meteorology, College of Agriculture Vellanikkara, KAU, Thrissur, India.
Riya K. R
Department of Agricultural Meteorology, College of Agriculture Vellanikkara, KAU, Thrissur, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The present study was conducted from 15th June to 1st November 2024 at the Research Farm of Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, to evaluate the duration, influence of weather variables on crop phenology and growing degree days (GDD) of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) variety Arka abhi and accession KAU-M2. Among the different planting dates, the 15th June (T1) planting required the maximum number of days to attain each phenophase. Correlation analysis between weather parameters and the duration of phenophases revealed significant relationships in both Arka abhi and KAU-M2. An increase in maximum temperature was found to reduce the duration of phenophases, whereas an increase in total rainfall and number of rainy days tended to prolong the duration of these phases. The highest accumulation of GDD was also observed in the T1 planting.
Keywords: Weather variables, GDD, Arka abhi and KAU-M2