%0 Journal Article
%T Influence of Secondary Plant Nutrients (Ca and Mg) on Growth and Yield of Chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.)
%A R.K. Upadhyay
%A D.D. Patra
%J Asian Journal of Crop Science
%D 2011
%I 
%X Many researchers carried out study on Matricaria with respect to nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and micro nutrient requirement and their influence on plant growth but there are no reports on influence of secondary nutrients on flower yield and oil quality of the crop. In the view of above fact an experiment was carried out on the response of Matricaria to calcium and magnesium vis-a-vis the influence of the nutrients on growth, yield and quality of essential oil in Matricaria. Treatment comprised of varying levels of Ca (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg pot-1 having 10 kg soil) and Mg (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg pot-1 having 10 kg soil) to elucidate yield parameters, oil yield and quality of Matricaria, during rabi season of 2009-10 at Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow. Effect of magnesium was found to be more pronounced as compared to calcium in respect of plant height, number of branches per plant, width of flower, number of flowers per plant, fresh weight (g) of flower and oil content (%). The growth and yield parameters of Matricaria increased with increase in application rate of calcium and magnesium. The interaction effect of calcium and magnesium at the rate of Ca 200 + Mg 200 mg pot-1 was maximum as compared to other combination resulting in the maximum plant height (60.5 cm), number of branches per plant (70), number of flowers per plant (362), width of flower (2.66 cm), fresh weight of flower per plant (26.94 g) and oil content (1.10%). This combination also resulted in the best quality of oil with respect to chemical constituents. The conjoint application of Ca and Mg both at the rate of 200 mg pot-1 (C5M5) significantly influenced the yield, yield contributing character and oil content (1.10%) as compared to the rest of the treatments.
%K flavoring agent
%K Matricaria (Matricaria recutita L.)
%K secondary essential nutrient
%K chamazulene
%K growth and quality
%U http://docsdrive.com/pdfs/ansinet/ajcs/2011/151-157.pdf