Big Data in Agriculture (BDA) 5(2) (2023) 32-35 Quick Response Code Access this article online Website: www.bigdatainagriculture.com.my DOI: 10.26480/bda.02.2023.32.35 Cite The Article: Sagar Raza chandio, Mehtab Rai Meghwar, Ali Bux Shar, Maqsood Ali Wagan, Izhar Ahmed Shar (2023). Effect of Pinching on Growth and Yield of Marigold. Big Data in Agriculture, 5(2): 32-35. ISSN: 2682-7786 (Online) CODEN: BDAIDR RESEARCH ARTICLE Big Data in Agriculture (BDA) DOI: http://doi.org/10.26480/bda.02.2023.32.35 EFFECT OF PINCHING ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF MARIGOLD Sagar Raza chandio a , Mehtab Rai Meghwar b , Ali Bux Shar a , Maqsood Ali Wagan a, *, Izhar Ahmed Shar a a Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Crop Production Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Pakistan b Department of Crop Physiology, Faculty of Crop Production Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Pakistan * Corresponding Author E-mail: maqsoodwagan184@gmail.com; mawagan26@gmail.com This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT Article History: Received 03 April 2023 Revised 06 May 2023 Accepted 09 June 2023 Available online 12 June 2023 The experiment was conducted at department of Horticulture, Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam, Sindh, Pakistan, to evaluate the effect of pinching on growth and yield of marigold. The experiment was conducted in Randomized complete block Design (RCBD). The study comprised of six different pinching treatments including T1= Control-No pinching, T2= Pinching after 10 days of transplanting, T3= pinching after 15 days of transplanting, T4= Pinching after 20 days of transplanting, T5= pinching after 25 days of transplanting, T6= pinching after 30 days of transplanting each treatment was replicated three times. The results indicated a significant effect of the pinching treatments observations were recorded for plant height (cm), number of flower per plant, number of branches per plant, fresh biomass of flower (g), flower diameter (cm), number of leaves per plant. It was found that all studied attributes were statically significant (P<0.05) and influenced by pinching. The maximum plant height (18.63 cm) was obtained from T5=pinching after 25 days of transplanting, pinching after 30 days of transplanting T6 produced maximum number of flower per plant (23.71), and maximum branches per plant (4.74), maximum fresh biomass of flower (7.04 g) were observed at T5= pinching after 25 days of transplanting, followed by T6 = pinching after 30 days of transplanting (6.5 g). Pinching after 30 days of transplanting T6 resulted in diameter of flower cm (14.800), and maximum number of leaves per plant (390.39), and minimum plant height (10.4 cm), minimum number of flower per plant (15.31) minimum number of branches per plant (2.95) minimum fresh biomass of flower (3.73 g) minimum flower diameter (9.340) cm, and the minimum number of leaves per plant (243.26) was observed from the T1 Control-No pinching. KEYWORDS Pinching, marigold, growth 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Marigold and its Importance The marigold (Tagetes erecta L.), which makes up more than half of the country's production of loose flowers, is one of the most significant commercial flowers in the family Compositae/Asteraceae and is planted all over the world (Jyothi et al., 2018). It is native to Mexico and other parts of South and Central America (Singh et al., 2019). One of the earliest flowering plants to be domesticated, marigold is widely used as a garden plant, pot plant, and herbaceous border to add beauty in tropical and subtropical nations (Singh et al., 2017; Wagan et al., 2022). Marigold has both decorative and medicinal purposes. Due to its aromatic properties and essential oil content, it is utilised as well in the cosmetic and fragrance industries (Regaswamy, D., and J. Koilpillai. 2014). This flower became well-liked among flower producers because to its short cropping period, inexpensive cost, and ease of maintenance. In Pakistan, African marigold plant life is sold within the market as loose for making garland. Aside from reduce flower, marigold especially is used for beautification. 1.2 Pinching and its Importance Pinching is the removal of the terminal growing point of the shoot along with a few leaves to encourage the growth of lateral branches to increase flower production (Subedi et al., 2020). Flower yield relies upon at the variety of flowering branches. This could be suffering from inhibiting vertical boom and pinching to help the plant's lateral buds (Baskaran & Abirami, 2017). This practice is usually done when the plants are young and between 7 to 15 cm tall, depending on their growth habit. Pinching is the process of discarding the apical bud along many leaves. This is because removing the apical details provides extra energy to help the various lateral branches. The broad style of lateral shoots has been changed without problems to certainly correlate with marigold flower yield (Singh et al., 2019). Pinching slows flowering but increases fluorescence. The main reasons for pinching are to promote branching to obtain hairy income or to increase the production of larger flowers and seed yields. To pinch, use your thumb and forefinger to pinch the upper extension of the plant's life, limit the use of a pointed knife. A group of researchers conducted an experiment by maintaining planting schedule to standardize the African marigold. 2. MATERIAL AND METHODS The experiment was conducted at department of Horticulture, Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam, Sindh, Pakistan, to evaluate the effect of pinching on growth and yield of marigold. The experiment was conducted in Randomized complete block Design (RCBD). The study comprised of six different pinching treatments including T1= Control-No pinching, T2= pinching after 10 days of transplanting , T3= Pinching after 15 days of transplanting, T4= Pinching after 20 days of transplanting, T5= pinching after 25 days of transplanting, T6= pinching after 30 days of transplanting each treatment was replicated three times.