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Aluthgamage HN1*, Fonseka DLCK1, Benaragama CK2
1Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka
2Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Abstract
The yield of cinnamon bark is determined by various factors. Number of harvestable stems per plant, harvestable length of a stem and unit bark weight are three major yield indices of cinnamon. Hence, the study was aimed at identifying the impact of spatial pattern, type of planting material and harvesting interval on the yield indices of cinnamon. Seedlings and vegetatively propagated cinnamon; variety Sri Gemunu were planted under three different spatial patterns as 1.2×0.6 m with three plants per hill, 1.2×0.4 m with two plants per hill and 1.2×0.2 m with one plant per hill while maintaining equal planting density in a unit area. Plants were harvested according to two harvesting intervals as 6 and 8 months and the number of harvestable stems per plant and the lengths of harvestable stems (length with brown bark) were recorded during harvesting. The number of harvestable stems per hectare was also calculated. Cinnamon quills were produced and unit bark weight was calculated by dividing the quill weight of each stem from its harvestable length. The results revealed that the effects of treatments were not significant (p < 0.05) for the number of harvestable stems per hectare during the first harvest while the interaction effect between planting material and the spatial pattern was significant (p < 0.05) for harvestable length and unit bark weight. The interaction effect between planting material and the spatial pattern was significant (p < 0.05) during the second harvest for all three yield indices. The number of harvestable stems per hectare was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in seedlings than vegetatively propagated plants during the third harvest. Moreover, the interaction effect between planting material and harvesting interval was significant (p < 0.05) for the harvestable length of a stem during second and third harvests. Unit bark weight of vegetatively propagated plants was significantly higher than seedlings (p < 0.05) during the third harvest.
Keywords:
Cinnamon, Seedlings, Spatial pattern, Unit bark weight, Vegetatively propagated plants
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