Seed development and maturation in African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.)

Abstract: Marigold is an annual flower crop and it is mainly cultivated and propagated through seeds. Seed quality is the key issue in flower seed industry. Indeterminate flowering in marigold leads to differential maturity of seeds resulting in wide differences in the seed quality, major constraints in marigold seed production are optimum stage of physiological maturity and stage of seed harvest. Hence, a study was undertaken to identify the optimum stages of seed maturity in African marigold varieties. The experimental results showed that, on-set of germination starts at 8-10 DFA; and quality seeds in marigold can be harvested between 46-48 DFA. Besides, total oil content in seeds recorded of about 35 % during physiological maturity and of about 33% at harvest maturity; its content also varied with genotype as well as stage of seed maturity.