INTRODUCTION Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) also known as “Queen of the East” (Anderson, 1987) belongs to the family Asteraceae and is a popular flower crop having its admireres and enthusiasts all over the world. In the current scenario, lower productivity and inferior flower quality of spray-type chrysanthemum is due to inefficient and frequent use of inorganic fertilizers, especially the quick-release nitrogenous fertilizers. In order to minimize these ill effects, organic farming practices involving oil cakes, organic manures etc. must be adopted for sustainable production. Neither chemical fertilizer alone nor organic sources exclusively can achieve sustainable production at the present level. The interactive advantages of combining organic and inorganic sources of nitrogen in integrated nutrient management systems are superior to inorganic fertilizer application alone. In view of the above objectives, we undertook an investigation to study yield and yield components of spray chrysanthemum in response to various sources of organic and inorganic nitrogenous fertilizers. Studies on yield and yield components of spray chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) cv. Amal under various sources of nitrogen Subhendu S. Gantait and P. Pal1 Department of Floriculture, Medicinal & Aromatic Plants Faculty of Horticulture, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya Pundibari, Cooch Behar – 736165, India E-mail:ssgflori@gmail.com ABSTRACT An investigation was undertaken to study the yield and yield components of spray-type chrysanthemum cv. Amal under variaous sources of nitrogen. The treatments considered different levels (100%, 75%, 50% or 25%) of four sources of nitrogen viz., urea, calcium ammonium nitrate, mustard cake and neem cake, alone or in combination of two or more of these. Results revealed that maximum stem length (62 cm) of cut flower and flower yield, number of flower heads (6387) and weight (4071.48 g/sqm) were mostly achiveved by application of total recommended dose of nitrogen through a combination of 25% N as neem cake + 25% N as mustard cake + 25% N as CAN + 25% as urea, and the treatment increased flower yield by 57.96% over treatment with nitrogen solely through urea. Flower size, individual flower weight, shelf and vase life of flower as well as anthocyanin content in floral tissue were higher in combined application of all oil cakes and urea and maximum under treatment combination of 50% recommended dose of nitrogen supplied through mustard cake, 25% N through neem cake and 25% N through urea. Anthocyanin content of flower tissues increased gradually upto 20 days from opening of the flower and, thereafter, declined sharply. Key words: Chrysanthemum, nitrogen source, oil cake, organic MATERIAL AND METHODS The field experiment was conducted at Horticultural Research Station, Mondouri (23o N, 83o E and 9.75 mamsl altitude), Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal, India, during two consecutive winter seasons of 2003- 05. The soil texture was clay-loam, having pH 6.8, organic carbon 0.58, total N 156.8 Kg/ha, available P 2 O 5 50.4 Kg/ha and available K 2 O 208.5 Kg/ha. The experiment was conducted using cultivar ‘Amal’ in a factorial RBD design (FRBD) with 16 treatments, and replicated thrice. All plots of the experiment were supplied with the recommended dose of N:P:K @ 20:10:10 g/sqm in both years of experiment. The treatments consisted of different levels (100%, 75%, 50% or 25%) of four sources of nitrogen, viz., urea (UR), calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), mustard cake (MC) and neem cake (NC) alone or in combination of two or more of these. Treatment combinations were as follows: Nitrogen sources like neem cake and mustard cake were applied during land preparation two weeks before planting, and calcium ammonium nitrate was applied as basal 1Department of Floriculture & Landscaping, Faculty of Horticulture, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, India. J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 4 (1): 54-58, 2009 55 during final land preparation. First top dressing of CAN and urea was made 15 days after transplanting (DAT) and second top dressing of urea at 30 DAT. Full dose of P 2 O 5 and K 2 O was applied through single super phosphate (SSP) and muriate of potash (MOP), respectively, as basal application. Observations on growth and yield parameters were recorded and subjected to statistical analysis as per Panse and Sukhatme (1967). Anthocyanin was estimated from freshly-harvested petals starting at flower opening upto colour fading stage, harvested at five days intervals. Anthocyanin was estimated by using the method of Thimmaiah (2004). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A perusal of results presented in Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4 and Fig. 1 and 2 on plant height, canopy spread plant-1, days to optimum bloom, stem-length of flower, flower size, individual flower weight and flower yield (number and weight of flowers heads sqm-1), shelf-life and vase-life of flowers and anthocyanin content of petal revealed significant differences between sole application of inorganic and organic fertilizer and their combinations. Maximum plant height and canopy spread plant-1 of 93.20 cm and 59.50 cm, respectively, in pooled data was observed in treatment T 16 in which plants were supplied with total RDN through 25% each of neem cake, mustard cake, CAN and urea closely followed by the T 1 100% N of RDN through UR (50% basal + 50% in two top-dress) T 2 100% N of RDN through NC (50% basal + 50% top dressing) T 3 100% N of RDN through MC (50% basal + 50% top dressing) T 4 100% N of RDN through CAN (50% basal + 50% top dressing) T 5 50% N through NC (basal) + 50% N through UR (25x% basal + 25% in two top-dress) T 6 50% N through MC (basal) + 50% N through UR (25% basal + 25% in two top-dress) T 7 50% N through MC (basal) + 50% N through CAN (basal) T 8 50% N through NC (basal) + 50% N through CAN ( basal ) T 9 50% N through NC (basal) + 50% N through MC ( basal ) T 10 75% N through MC (basal) + 25% N through CAN (basal ) T 11 75% N through NC (basal) + 25% N through CAN (basal ) T 12 50% N through MC (basal) + 25% N through CAN (basal)+25% N through UR (two top-dress) T 13 50% N through NC (basal) + 25% N through CAN (basal)+25% N through UR (two top-dress) T 14 50% N through MC (basal) + 25% N through NC (basal)+25% N through UR (two top-dress) T 15 50% N through NC (basal) + 25% N through MC (basal)+25% N through UR (two top-dress) T 16 25% N through NC (basal) + 25% N through MC(basal) +25% N through CAN (basal) + 25% N through UR (two top-dress) where N= Nitrogen, RDN= Recommended dose of nitrogen plants treated with a combination of 50% N as MC + 25% N as CAN + 25% N as urea (T 12 ) showing 89.75 cm and 56.63 cm, respectively. Plant height was lowest (65.88 cm) in plants that received with 100% N, supplied solely as neem cake (T 2 ). With regard to sources of nitrogen, plants treated with full dose of recommended nitrogen solely through urea (T 1 ) produced earliest flowering (125.13 days) compared to other treatments, whereas, plants raised on 50% N as Table 1. Plant height (cm) and canopy spread (cm) of spray chrysanthemum cv. Amal under various sources of nitrogen Treatment Plant height (cm) Canopy spread (cm) per plant 1st yr 2nd yr Pool 1st yr 2nd yr Pool T 1 71.50 66.00 69.00 43.50 35.50 39.50 T 2 66.50 63.25 65.88 42.00 34.00 38.00 T 3 68.00 64.50 66.25 42.50 33.25 37.88 T 4 73.50 68.50 71.00 45.50 38.00 41.75 T 5 74.50 69.00 71.75 46.00 39.00 42.50 T 6 76.00 70.50 73.25 47.00 40.00 43.50 T 7 80.00 75.50 77.75 50.00 43.50 46.75 T 8 78.50 74.00 76.25 49.00 42.50 45.75 T 9 76.50 71.50 74.00 47.00 40.50 44.00 T 1 0 84.00 81.50 82.75 53.50 47.50 50.50 T 1 1 82.50 80.00 81.75 52.00 46.00 49.00 T 1 2 91.50 88.00 89.75 59.25 54.00 56.63 T 1 3 90.50 87.25 88.88 58.00 53.00 55.50 T 1 4 87.50 84.50 86.00 56.50 51.00 53.75 T 1 5 86.00 83.50 84.75 55.50 50.00 52.75 T 1 6 95.25 91.15 93.20 62.50 56.50 59.50 SEm ± 1.085 1.482 0.918 1.113 1.474 0.924 CD (P=0.05) 2.31 3.16 2.54 2.41 3.14 1.97 Chrysanthemum yield under different nitrogen sources J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 4 (1): 54-58, 2009 56 Table 2. Days required to full-bloom and stem-length (cm) in flower of spray chrysanthemum cv. Amal under various sources of nitrogen Treatment Daysto Stem-length (cm) full-bloom of cut-flower 1st yr 2nd yr Pool 1st yr 2nd yr Pool T 1 136.75 113.50 125.13 45.50 42.50 44.00 T 2 139.25 116.50 127.88 43.00 40.50 41.75 T 3 140.00 117.00 128.50 44.00 41.00 42.50 T 4 137.00 114.00 125.50 47.00 44.50 45.75 T 5 137.50 114.50 126.00 47.50 45.00 46.25 T 6 138.00 115.50 126.75 48.00 46.00 47.00 T 7 139.00 116.00 127.50 52.00 49.50 50.75 T 8 138.50 115.75 127.13 51.00 48.50 49.75 T 9 144.75 120.00 132.38 49.00 46.50 47.75 T 1 0 142.00 117.75 129.88 55.50 52.00 53.75 T 1 1 141.00 117.25 129.13 54.50 51.00 52.75 T 1 2 144.00 119.25 131.68 62.00 57.50 59.75 T 1 3 142.50 118.25 130.38 61.00 56.50 58.75 T 1 4 146.00 121.00 133.50 59.00 55.00 57.00 T 1 5 145.25 120.50 132.88 57.50 54.00 55.75 T 1 6 143.50 119.00 131.25 64.50 59.50 62.00 SEm ± 0.716 0.653 0.485 1.008 0.758 0.631 CD (P=0.05) 1.53 1.39 1.03 2.15 1.61 1.34 Table 3. Size (cm) and weight (g) of individual flowers of spray chrysanthemum cv. Amal under various sources of nitrogen Treatment Flower-size (cm) Weight (g) of individual flower __________________________________________________________ 1st yr 2nd yr Pool 1st yr 2nd yr Pool T 1 4.00 4.15 4.08 1.35 1.51 1.43 T 2 4.60 4.70 4.65 1.47 1.67 1.57 T 3 4.75 4.90 4.83 1.53 1.75 1.64 T 4 4.10 4.20 4.15 1.36 1.53 1.45 T 5 4.20 4.30 4.25 1.37 1.55 1.46 T 6 4.40 4.50 4.45 1.40 1.59 1.50 T 7 4.55 4.65 4.60 1.45 1.65 1.55 T 8 4.45 4.55 4.50 1.41 1.61 1.51 T 9 5.45 5.60 5.53 1.87 2.14 2.01 T 1 0 5.00 5.15 5.08 1.62 1.85 1.74 T 1 1 4.85 5.00 4.93 1.57 1.79 1.68 T 1 2 5.35 5.55 5.45 1.79 2.05 1.92 T 1 3 5.10 5.25 5.18 1.66 1.88 1.77 T 1 4 5.75 5.80 5.78 2.10 2.40 2.25 T 1 5 5.50 5.65 5.58 1.95 2.20 2.08 T 1 6 5.25 5.40 5.33 1.73 2.00 1.87 SEm ± 1.111 0.961 0.073 0.078 0.066 0.063 CD (P=0.05) 2.37 2.05 0.16 0.17 0.14 0.13 Fig 2. Changes in anthocyanin content (mg/100 g) in flower tissue of spray chrysanthemum cv. Amal under varioussources of nitrogen Fig 1. Self-life and vase-life of flower of spray chrysanthemum cv. Amal under various sources of nitrogen MC + 25% N as NC + 25% N as urea (T 14 ) took maximum number of days (133.50 days) to flower. Plants treated with 25% N as NC + 25% N as MC + 25 % N as CAN + 25% N as urea (T 16 ) produced maximum stem length (62 cm) in flowers which was at par with treatment T 12 . Plants raised on total RDN with neem cake (T 2 ) recorded minimum (41.75 cm) stem-length in flower. Largest size in flower (5.78 cm) was recorded in plants under treatment T 14 (50 % N as MC + 25% N as NC + 25% N as urea), closely followed by plants under treatment T 15 (50 % N as NC + 25% N as MC + 25 % N as urea), whereas, plants treated with total RDN as urea (T 1 ) produced smallest size of flower (4.08 cm). Heaviest flower (2.25 g) was produced in T 14 treatment and flower weight was minimum (1.43 g) with T 1 treatment. Maximum number of flowers (6387) sqm-1 was recorded in plants treated with 25% N as NC + 25% N as MC + 25% N as CAN + 25% N as urea (T 16 ), whereas, plants supplied with total RDN solely through neem cake (T 2 ) produced lowest number (2001) of flowers which was closest to treatment T 3 (100% N as MC) with 2230.95 flowers. Plants grown on treatment T 16 recorded 218.89% J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 4 (1): 54-58, 2009 Gantait and Pal 57 Table 4. Number of flowers per sqm and flower-yield (g) per sqm of spray chrysanthemum cv. Amal under varioussources of nitrogen Treatment Number of flowers per sqm Flower yield (g) per sqm 1st yr 2nd yr Pool 1st yr 2nd yr Pool T 1 2880.20 2320.60 2600.40 2730.40 2424.60 2577.50 T 2 2186.50 1815.50 2001.00 2566.60 2197.40 2382.00 T 3 2480.30 1981.50 2230.95 2645.45 2318.30 2481.88 T 4 3181.65 2515.40 2848.53 2780.30 2524.55 2652.43 T 5 3386.55 2774.40 3080.48 2865.45 2587.80 2736.63 T 6 3750.55 3190.50 3470.53 2993.35 2694.65 2844.00 T 7 4453.40 4008.55 4230.98 3306.35 3001.40 3153.88 T 8 4266.70 3804.40 4035.55 3206.65 2908.45 3057.55 T 9 3920.40 3386.30 3653.35 3057.55 2766.60 2912.08 T 1 0 4906.35 4524.45 4715.40 3520.30 3242.45 3381.38 T 1 1 4764.35 4248.40 4506.38 3427.60 3157.65 3292.63 T 1 2 5985.55 5635.45 5810.50 4060.30 3761.50 3910.90 T 1 3 5768.45 5350.60 5559.53 3974.55 3640.35 3807.45 T 1 4 5324.25 5075.50 5199.88 3797.65 3477.35 3637.50 T 1 5 5137.55 4870.55 5004.05 3669.40 3392.55 3530.98 T 1 6 6720.45 6053.55 6387.00 4238.30 3904.65 4071.48 SEm ± 145.055 146.091 102.937 95.68 123.387 78.070 CD (P=0.05) 308.97 311.17 219.26 203.80 262.81 166.29 and 145.62% greater number of flowers compared to T 2 and T 3 treatments, respectively. Among different treatments, maximum flower yield (4071.48 g sqm-1) was recorded with T 16 treatment. Plants under T 16 treatment produced 70.93% and 57.96% more yield over T 2 and T 1 treatments respectively. Both shelf-life and vase-life of flowers was found to be maximum (30 days and 25 days, respectively) in plants under T 14 treatment and the minimum in plants under T 1 treatment (Fig.1). Plants raised on 100% N solely through neem cake (T 2 ) recorded lowest flower yield by weight (2382 g sqm-1), followed by application of full dose of N in the form of mustard cake (T 3 ). Anthocyanin content in floral tissues was estimated from flower opening to flower colour fading stage (Fig. 2). Anthocyanin content increased gradually upto 20 days from opening of the flower and, thereafter, declined sharply till flower colour fading stage, irrespective of source of nitrogen or combination. Flowers under treatment T 14 recorded maximum anthocyanin content, followed by treatment T 15 and, the lowest in flower tepals of plants supplied with total RDN solely through urea (T 1 ). In the present investigation, different sources of nitrogen, alone or in combination, were found to significantly influence all the vegetative and flowering attributes. Plants on 75% of recommended dose of nitrogen through equal parts neem cake, mustard cake and CAN and remaining 25% as top dressing of urea (T 16 ) were outstanding in respect of plant growth, flower yield and yield components. Application of total RDN solely through urea (T 1 ) registered early blooming and low quality of flowers as well as lowest anthocyanin content solely in flower tepals at all stages of sampling, followed by T 4 (100% N as CAN) treatment. Oil cakes contain some percentage of oil, which prevents rapid conversion of organic nitrogen into the available form. As nitrogen present in the oil-cake is slow-releasing, nitrogen supply to the plant continued throughout the growing period. Several studies have shown that oilcake, in general, increased organic carbon, total and inorganic nitrogen and available phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, calcium and magnesium content of the soil (Herron and Ehrhart, 1965; Olsen et al, 1970; Mays et al, 1973). Higher proportion of mustard cake in combination with urea and CAN (T 12 ) registered better performance compared to neem cake combined with urea and CAN (T 13 ). Application of total RDN through neem cake (T 2 ) showed poor vegetative growth and yield of flowers, followed by application of total RDN through mustard cake (T 3 ) compared to other treatments. This might be due to a low level of leaf-N at all the stages of sampling. Das and Mukherjee (1990) noted adverse effects of neem cake on beneficial micro-organisms present in the soil. Mukherjee et al (1991) reported that different groups of soil microorganisms responded differently to addition of different types of oil-cake to soil. Mustard cake was superior to neem cake in terms of preponderance of soil organisms, while, neem cake caused adverse effects on beneficial organisms and maintained least amount of total nitrogen in the soil. The presence of lipids and bioregulators like meliacins, epinmbin, salin and azadirachtin associated with oil cake may be responsible for inhibition of bacterial growth. Chrysanthemum yield under different nitrogen sources J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 4 (1): 54-58, 2009 58 Based on results of this study it can be concluded that maximum plant growth, flower, stem length and flower- yield were influenced by combined application of total RDN through 25% N as neem cake + 25% N as mustard cake + 25% N as CAN + 25% as urea and this treatment increased 57.96% of flower yield over application of total RDN solely through urea. Flower size, individual flower-weight, shelf- and vase-life of flowers as well as anthocyanin content in flower tepals were found to be higher in plants under sole or combined application of oil cakes (mustard cake and neem cake) than under urea and those characters were recorded to be maximum under treatment combination of 50% N of RDN supplied through mustard cake, 25% N through neem cake and 25% N through urea. Anthocyanin content of flower tepals increased gradually upto 20 days from opening of the flower and, thereafter, declined sharply till flower colour fading stage, irrespective of the nitrogen source. REFERENCES Anderson, N.O. 1987. Reclassification of genus Chrysanthemum. Hort. Sci., 22:313 Das, A.C. and Mukherjee, D. 1990. Microbiological changes during decomposition of wheat straw and neem cake in soil. Environ. Ecol., 8:1012-1015 Herron, G.M. and Ehrhart, A.B. 1965. Value of manure on an irrigated calcareous soil. Proc. Soil Sci. Amer., 29:278-81 Mays, D.A., Tenman, G.L. and Duggan, J.C. 1973. Municipal compost: Effect on crop yield and soil properties. J. Environ. Qual., 2:89-81 Mukherjee, D., Mitra, S. and Das, A.C. 1991. Effects of oil cakes on changes in carbon, nitrogen and microbial population in soil. J. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci., 39:457-62 Olsen, R.J., Hensler, R.F. and Attoe, O.J. 1970. Effect of manure application, aeration and soil pH on soil nitrogen transformations and on certain test values. Proc. Soil Sci.Comm. Amer., 34:22-25 Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V. 1967. Statistical Methods for Agricultural Workers. ICAR, New Delhi, India, p. 381 Thimmaiah, S.R. 2004. Pigments. Standard methods of biochemical analysis. Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi (MS Received 15 September 2008, Revised 1 June 2009) J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 4 (1): 54-58, 2009 Gantait and Pal