Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014 251 www.world-food.net Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment Vol.12 (3&4): 251-254. 2014 WFL Publisher Science and Technology Meri-Rastilantie 3 B, FI-00980 Helsinki, Finland e-mail: info@world-food.net Received 7 April 2014, accepted 18 September 2014. Phenology and green leaf yield of coriander at different sowing dates and harvesting times Sagarika Guha 1 , Amit Baran Sharangi 2 * and Sandip Debnath 3 1 Research Scholar and 2 Associate Professor, Department of Spices and Plantation Crops, Faculty of Horticulture, BCKV (Agricultural University), Mohanpur 741252, Nadia, West Bengal, INDIA. 3 Senior Research Fellow Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, BCKV (Agricultural University), Mohanpur- 741252, Nadia, West Bengal, INDIA. *e-mail: dr_absharangi@yahoo.co.in Abstract Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.), one of the major seed spices, is valued both for leaves as well as seeds that are often used for culinary and medicinal purposes worldwide. However, there is limited research on management practices for efficient utilization of this crop for both leaf and seed production. The principle objective of this study was to optimise sowing time of the crop and harvest times of leaves. The experiment comprised of seven dates of sowing and three harvest treatments, no harvest, 1 harvest and 2 harvests, at 30 - 63 DAS when each harvest was made on coriander plants cultivated during months of September through March. The first and second harvests were made at about 15 days interval when leaves were without any signs of serration and in ideal marketable condition and preferred by the consumers. The time of sowing influenced significantly the days taken for seedling emergence and the production of the 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd leaf. Thereafter, November sown seeds were earliest to emerge and produce leaves among different sowing dates. Both, sowing date and harvest time had significant effect on flowering time, leaf serration, seed setting and physiological maturity of coriander. Sowing in October resulted in superior leaf yield compared to other sowing dates. Two harvests may be recommended as a crucial agronomic practice for better green leaf yield. Key words: Coriander, Coriandrum sativum, sowing dates, leaf harvesting, phenology, green leaf yield. Introduction Coriander (Coriandrum sativum. L.), one of the major seed spices, is grown over 531,000 ha with an annual production of 482,000 tons of fresh leaf at the rate of 0.9 tons ha -1 1 . It is a dual purpose crop, grown for fresh leaf as well as for seed for use as a spice. The plant has regenerative capacity and hence 2 - 3 harvests can be made very easily. It was suggested that leaf plucking of coriander seed crop at early stages can provide an extra income to its growers 2, 3 . For leaf purpose, coriander is grown all the year round. Harvesting at leafy stage has also been found to improve the seed yield in coriander. A single harvest at 30 DAS provides higher yield of seeds 4 . The harvested leaves apart from being used raw as such could also be used for extraction of essential oil. India being the largest producer as well as consumer of fresh leaves, there is a persistent demand for fresh leaves in the market. It has been documented that, seed and green leaf yield had increased with increase in the levels of nitrogen from 0 to 60 kg ha -1 , whereas seed yield had decreased with the increase in frequencies of leaf cutting 5 . Coriander sown on 1 st November and having treated with nitrogen @ 60 kg ha -1 and cut once (at 30 DAS) had the highest seed yield and good green leaf yield 6 . Several studies have been reported on the response of coriander to sowing dates 7-11 as well as to cutting management 5, 12 . However, the information available on leaf production of coriander at different sowing dates in multiple harvest system is very much limited especially of coriander crops grown on Gangetic alluvial soils of West Bengal. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted to study the phenology and green leaf yield of coriander at different sowing dates and multiple harvests. Materials and Methods The experiment was conducted at the Horticultural Research Station, Mondouri, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (Agricultural University), India. The experiment was laid out in a Factorial Randomized Block Design with three replications. The treatments comprised of seven sowing dates: September (D 1 ), October (D 2 ), November (D 3 ), December (D 4 ), January (D 5 ), February (D 6 ) and March (D 7 ); and three times of leaf harvests: i) no harvest (C 0 ), ii) one harvest (C 1 ), and iii) two harvests (C 2 ) over a period of 7 months between September and March. The respective dates (DAS) of each harvest are summarized in Table 1. The seed of coriander variety X-47 (Leafy type) was sown in the third week of each month in plots 2 m × 1.5 m and at a 30 cm × 15 cm between and within row spacing, respectively. Standard management practices were followed throughout the growing period. In addition to 20 tons of organic manure (FYM) and inorganic fertilizer, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at the rate of 60:40:20 kg/ha was applied. The crop was irrigated when required to maintain moisture-stress-free conditions. Inorganic fertilizer nitrogen was applied @ 20 kg/ha along with full dose of P and K as basal at the time of sowing. The remaining 40 kg/ha of N was applied at the time of harvest in treatment C1 and in two equal doses after harvests in treatment C2. In treatments C1 and C2, leaves were harvested when they were in ideal marketable condition without any signs of serration, preferred by the consumers at the market. Results Time of emergence: When 50% of the seed in each plot was