Varietal Performance and Economic Analysis of African Marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) for Commercial Cultivation in Chhattisgarh Plains: A Comprehensive Review
Résumé
Floriculture has become a fast-growing and economically feasible section of horticulture as a result of the growing demand of ornamental and loose flowers in both domestic and commercial markets. African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) is one of the dominant loose flower crops in India because of its broad adaptability, throughout the year cultivation and multiple applications in the garlands and decoration, religious offerings and value-added industries. It is grown on a large scale in India and the bulk production is focused in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, but recently Chhattisgarh is seen as an attractive location with respect to the cultivation of commercial marigold due to its favourable agro-climate conditions and growing market demand. The current review is a synthesis of all the literature on varietal performance, growth characteristics, yield potential, and economic viability of African marigold with particular reference to the Chhattisgarh plains. There has been a significant difference between varieties in terms of vegetative growth, flowering behaviour, flower size and yield. The cultivars that were tested (Arka Bhanu f1 and Calcutta Gainda) displayed a high yield under plains conditions with reported yields of about 23.47 t/ha and 19.68 t/ha, respectively, although Pusa Basanti and Pusa Narangi had an intermediate yield. Economic studies have shown that the production of marigolds is very lucrative and the net returns are 1.6-1.7 lakh per hectare and the estimates of the benefit-cost ratio are 1:4 in case of good management practices. Although it is profitable and has the capacity to adjust to this, there is still a huge yield difference between experimental and farmers' field situations because of a lack of uptake of better varieties, insufficient quality of planting material, market dynamics and poor value chain synergies. The review notes that there is a need to have a systematic multi-location varietal assessment, encourage hybrid cultivars, adopt better nutrient and crop management methods and design an efficient marketing and value addition system.