Abstract
Crop improvement studies on cardamom carried out at the Indian Cardamom Research Institute, Myladumpara during the last decade has resulted in the development of six high yielding selections viz., MCC-21, MCC-40, MCC-73, MCC-85, MCC-200 and MCC-346 and eight promising hybrids such as MHC-10, MHC-13, MHC-18, MHC-22, MHC-23, MHC-24, MHC-26 and MHC-27. Performance assessment of these fourteen genotypes with regard to growth, yield and quality parameters was made and compared with the released clones ICRI-1 and ICRI-2 and also with the popular landrace MCC-260 (Njallani). The hybrid MHC-26 performed the best with a yield of 1896 kg/ha followed by the selection MCC-73 (1886 kg/ha) and the hybrids MHC-24 (1651 kg/ha) and MHC-13 (1441 kg/ha) and these genotypes out yielded ICRI-1, ICRI-2 and MCC-260 (Njallani) which are considered the best yielders in cardamom. With regard to quality parameters MHC-26 exhibited the highest percentage of bold capsules (72.53%) and MCC-73 had the highest volatile oil content (7.33%). Since cardamom is highly cross-pollinated, clonal propagation of these improved lines is suggested to produce ‘true to type’ planting materials. Large-scale planting of these lines is recommended for augmenting the production and productivity of cardamom and also to make its cultivation remunerative.
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