7 Evaluation of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) cultivars for yield and yield contrib- uting characters in Gujarat A K Phurailatpam*, K A Geetha 1 , R S Meena 2 & S Maiti 1 College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University, Pasighat-791 102, Arunachal Pradesh. *E-mail: arunkumarph@gmail.com Received 19 December 2013; Revised 02 December 2014; Accepted 31 December 2014 Abstract Nineteen cultivars of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) from diverse sources were evaluated in semi-arid conditions of Gujarat for observing the various morphological and yield characters. The highest plant height was found in Pant Haritama (97.27 cm) which was at par with RCr 435, ACr 209, JD 1, Co 4, RCr 20 and Sadhana. There were no significant differences in number of primary and secondary branches in all the cultivars. Highest seed yield plant -1 were observed in JD 1 (10.78 g) which was at par with Sudha, Sindhu and RCr 41.The lowest yield plant -1 were observed in RCr 20 (1.81gm). The minimum time taken for 50% flowering was observed in Sudha and RCr 41 (42.67 days) which were at par with that of Sindhu. The maximum time taken for 50% flowering was by RCr 20 (68.67 days). It was also observed that the time taken for days to full flowering in an umbel ranges between 8-14 days and the days to complete complete fruit formation in an umbel ranges from 14-20 days. It might be concluded from the study that the cultivars differed significantly in most of the parameters and offer a good scope of selection of cultivars for desired traits. Keywords: coriander, Coriandrum sativum, cultivars, seed yield 1 ICAR-Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research, Anand-387 310, Gujarat. 2 ICAR-National Research Center on Seed Spices, Ajmer-305 206, Rajasthan. Introduction Coriander ( Coriandrum sativum L.) is an important spice crop grown throughout the country for its leaves as well as seeds. It occupies an area of about 5.43 lakh ha with a production of 5.24 lakh t (NHB 2013). The aromatic odour in coriander is due to the presence of essential oil, which has been reported to range from 0.1– 1.0% in dry seed of varieties of different origin. In spite of its wide cultivation in India, the average seed yield of coriander is rather low because of lack of attention given to this crop. Use of improved varieties/cultivars is one of the strategies for increasing the production and productivity of the crop. A germplasm collection with a good variability for the desirable characters is the basic requirement of any crop improvement programme (Singhania et al. 2006). In addition, crop improvement is primarily based on extensive evaluation of Journal of Spices and Aromatic Crops Vol. 25 (1) : 7-12 (2016) Indian Society for Spices www.indianspicesociety.in/josac/index.php/josac