American Journal of Plant Sciences, 2013, 4, 1721-1724
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2013.49210 Published Online September 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ajps)
Influence of Date of Transplanting on Growth and Yield
Attributes and Resultant Seed Quality of Davana
M. Jayanthi1*, A. Vijayakumar1, K. Vananagamudi1, K. Rajamani2
1Department of Seed Science and Technology, TamilNadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India; 2Department of Medicinal and
Aromatic Crops, TamilNadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India.
Received June 1st, 2013; revised July 1st, 2013; accepted July 20th, 2013
Copyright © 2013 M. Jayanthi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
ABSTRACT
A field experiment was conducted at TamilNadu agricultural university, Coimbatore during rabi 2011 to study the effect
of time transplanting on growth, yield attributes and resultant seed quality of davana. The experiment was laid out with
five different dates of transplanting viz., October 15th, November 1st, November 15th, December 1st and December 15th
with the spacing of 15 × 7.5 cm and 125:125:75 NPK kg/ha were adopted in a randomized block design with four rep-
lications. The results revealed that the seedlings transplanted at 15th November recorded the maximum number of
branches/plant, seed yield/plant, seed yield/plot, resultant seed germination and vigour index.
Keywords: Date of Transplanting; Davana; Seed Yield and Seed Quality
1. Introduction
Aromatic plants are the natural source of perfumes and
fragrance widely exploited by essential oil industries
across the world. India stands 3rd in essential oil produc-
tion in the world. Davana (Artemisia pallens wall. ex.
D.C.) is an important highly valued annual aromatic herb
of India belonging to the family Asteraceae and com-
mercially cultivated in south India as a short duration
crop from November to march. India has a monopoly in
production and export trade of davana oil. Davana is tra-
ditionally used in religious ceremonies and in making
garlands, bouquets, floral decorations and floral chaplets,
lending an element of freshness and a rich sumptuous-
ness of fragrance to religious occasions [1] (Narayana et
al., 1998). Davana is being propagated through seeds.
The productivity of any crop is the ultimate results of its
growth and development. Time of transplanting is one of
the major factors for getting maximum seed yield and
quality. Artemesia pallens possesses anti-inflammatory,
antipyretic and analgesic properties. It is used in Indian
folk medicine for the treatment of Diabetes mellitus [2]
(Al-Harbi et al., 1994). Hence, an attempt was made to
study the effect of date of transplanting on the growth
and yield attributes and resultant seed quality.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Experimental Conditions
Field experiments were conducted during rabi 2011 at
TamilNadu Agricultural University Coimbatore to study
the effect of different dates of transplanting on the
growth and yield attributes and resultant seed quality of
davana. The experiment was laid out in Randomized
block design with four replications. Five different dates
of transplanting viz., October 15th (DS1), November 1st
(DS2), November 15th (DS3), December 1st (DS4) and
December 15th (DS5) with the spacing of 15 × 7.5 cm
and 125:125:75 NPK kg/ha accommodating 90 plants/
plot. The seeds of davana (Artemesia pallens) obtained
from Horticultural college and Research Institute, Peri-
yakulam was chosen for the study. Growth attributes
such as plant height (cm), fresh weight of the seedling
(g/plant), dry matter production, chlorophyll content of
the seedling—estimated through the chlorophyllmeter at
vegetative, flowering and maturity stages using SPAD
meter., days to first flower, days to 50% flowering, num-
ber of branches/plant. Yield attributes viz., number of
flower heads/plant, seed yield/plant, seed yield/plot, 1000
seed weight, herbage yield/plot. Resultant seed quality
such as germination (%) [3] (ISTA, 1999), seedling
length (cm) the distance between the tip of the primary
leaf to the tip of the primary root, vigour index [4] (Ab-
*Corresponding author.

Influence of Date of Transplanting on Growth and Yield Attributes and Resultant Seed Quality of Davana 1722
dul Baki and Anderson, 1873). Vigour index (VI) was
computed using the following formula and expressed as
whole number. VI = Germination percentage × Seedling
length (cm) and Dry matter production (g·seedlings−10)
dried in a hot air oven maintained at 85˚C for 48 h and
cooled in a dessicator for 30 min and weighed in an elec-
tronic digital balance. Weather data given as Annexure
1.
2.2. Statistical Analysis
The data obtained from experiments were analyzed by
the ‘F’ test for significance following the method Facto-
rial Randomized Block Design as described by [5] Panse
and Sukhatme. 1985. Wherever necessary, the percent
values were transformed to angular (Arc-sine) values be-
fore analysis. The critical differences (CD) were calcu-
lated at 5 per cent probability level. The data were tested
for statistical significance.
3. Results and Discussion
The results of Table 1 were followed. The seedling
transplanted on November 15th (DS 3) recorded signifi-
cantly higher plant height, fresh weight of the seedling,
dry matter production of the seedling and chlorophyll
content. Days to first flowering, days to fifty percent
flowering attained earlier in the seedlings transplanted by
November 15th, number of branches/plant (26), number
of flower heads/plant (110), seed yield/plant (9.01 g),
seed yield/plot (112.6 g), 1000 seed weight (162.81 mg),
herbage yield/plot (1268.11 g) was also observed higher
with the seedlings transplanted during November 15th.
Resultant seed quality such as germination%, seedling
length, Dry matter production and vigour index was also
higher in November 15th seedlings which was followed
by the seedlings transplanted by December 1st.
Appropriate and proper time of sowing is one of the
basic requirements for obtaining maximum yield and
high return of any crop. As emphasized by [6] Snoek
(1981), the total yield of the crop is markedly influenced
by different sowing and transplanting times. In seed
production, [7] Wood et al. (1980) opined that the envi-
ronmental conditions particularly the light and tempera-
ture [8] (Crocker and Barton, 1955) interact with genetic
system and elicit developmental changes during ripening,
which exert influence on yield and seed quality. Highest
seed yield obtained from a plant height of 58.46 cm. This
was likely due to the plant height of the plots being op-
timum. From the observation in field plots, it could be
noted that the plant could be grown in optimum condition.
These contributed to more branching and flowering sub-
sequent to seed setting and eventually resulted in high
seed yield. The results of Table 2 were followed. Seed-
lings planted on November 15th came to early first flow-
ering and also 50% flowering, number of branches, num-
ber of flower heads/plant contributing towards increasing
seed yield. Similarly, maximum 1000 seed weight (162.8
mg) was recorded from the plots planted on November
15th. The results of Table 3 were followed. Highest seed
yield per plant (9.01 g), seed yield/plot (112.66 g) and
herbage yield per plot (1268.11 g) was obtained with the
seedlings planted on November 15th and each successive
delay in transplanting resulted into corresponding de-
crease in seed yield. Similar results were observed under
different set of climatic conditions as influenced by time
of planting in radish by [9] Gill and Gill (1995) and [10]
Warde et al. (2004).
The seed quality characters were significantly influ-
ence by time of planting.
The physiological potential of the seed in terms of ger-
mination (64%), seedling length (2.62 cm ) and vigour
index (168) were higher with the seeds produced in 15th
Table 1. Influence of time of transplanting on growth attributes at different growth periods.
Plant height (cm)at different
growth periods
Fresh weight of the seedling
(g·plant−1)at different growth periods
Dry matter production of the seedling
(g·plant−1) at different growth periods
Treatments
Vegetative Flowering Maturity MeanVegetativeFloweringMaturityMeanVegetative Flowering MaturityMean
DS1 29.4 53.37 49.55 44.10 7.45 15.36 11.77 11.533.69 10.04 8.66 7.46
DS2 29.9 54.17 54.84 46.31 7.86 18.22 13.95 13.344.90 10.80 9.74 8.48
DS3 32.9 56.21 58.16 49.09 8.16 18.40 16.62 14.395.02 12.03 9.80 8.95
DS4 29.9 50.15 53.73 44.59 7.41 13.54 12.44 11.133.89 8.96 8.45 7.10
DS5 26.4 48.14 47.74 40.77 7.14 11.97 10.48 9.863.63 7.75 7.45 6.28
Mean 29.70 52.41 52.80 7.60 15.49 13.05
4.23 9.92 8.82
SEd 0.35 0.96 0.51 0.06 0.84 0.29 0.10 0.49 0.12
CD (P = 0.05) 0.78 2.10 1.12 0.13 1.84 0.63 0.22 1.07 0.26

Influence of Date of Transplanting on Growth and Yield Attributes and Resultant Seed Quality of Davana 1723
Table 2. Influence of time of transplanting on chlorophyll content and yield attributes.
Chlorophyll content (SPAD value)
Treatments Vegetative
stage
Flowering
stage
Maturity
stage Mean
Days to first
flowering
Days to 50%
flowering
Number
of branches
Number of flower
heads plant−1
DS1 10.6 13.2 10.8 11.6 48 55 21 103
DS2 12.6 13.2 12.7 12.9 45 52 22 108
DS3 14.5 14.1 13.7 14.1 44 52 26 110
DS4 11.6 12.4 12.7 12.3 47 54 22 105
DS5 10.6 11.2 11.7 11.2 49 57 20 90
Mean 12.0 12.8 12.3
47 54 22 103
SEd 0.260 0.324 0.138 0.2371 0.6671 0.3845 2.0387
CD (P=0.05) 0.567 0.707 0.302 0.5167 1.4535 0.8378 4.4421
Table 3. Influence of time of transplanting on seed yield and resultant seed quality characters.
Treatments Seed Yield
plant−1 (g)
Seed yield
plot−1 (g)
1000 seed
weight (mg)
Herbage yield
plot−1 (g)
Germination
(%)
Seedling length
(cm)
Dry matter production
(mg·seedlings−10)
Vigour
index
DS1 5.57 69.54 151.76 898.05 58(49.60) 2.23 1.20 129
DS2 7.68 95.93 154.77 1064.39 60(50.76) 2.31 1.22 139
DS3 9.01 112.66 162.81 1268.11 64(53.13) 2.62 1.23 168
DS4 7.74 96.77 156.78 949.17 62(51.94) 2.45 1.21 152
DS5 6.33 79.08 158.79 799.62 61(51.35) 2.38 1.20 145
Mean 7.266 90.796 156.982 995.8676 61(51.35) 2.40 1.21 146.54
SEd 0.2093 5.0241 1.2476 53.7202 0.6687 0.0188 0.0047 2.2503
CD (P = 0.05) 0.4561 10.9467 2.7184 117.0474 1.4570 0.0410 0.0101 4.9031
Figures in parenthesis indicate arc sine values.
November month. [11] Castillo et al. (1994) and [12]
Greven et al. (1997) stated that the environment during
seed development is the major determinant of seed qual-
ity, particularly seed vigour. It is concluded that 15th
November planting recorded the maximum seed yield
and quality characters. Hence for seed production 15th
November could be recommended for davana.
4. Conclusion
From the present investigation, it could be concluded that
the seedlings planted on 15th November recorded the
maximum seed yield and quality characters such as
higher germination percentage, seedling length, drymat-
ter production and vigour index. Hence for seed produc-
tion 15th November could be recommended for davana.
REFERENCES
[1] M. R. Narayana, M. N. A. Khan and B. P. Dimri, “Da-
vana and Its Cultivation in India,” Farm Bulletin, No. 12,
CIMAP, Lucknow, 1998, pp. 1-10.
[2] M. M. Al-Harbi, S. Qureshi, M. M. Ahmed, G. A. Riza
and A. H. Shah, “Studies on the Anti-Inflammatory An-
tipyretic and Analgestic Activities of Santanonin,” The
Japanese Journal of Pharmcology, Vol. 64, No. 3, 1994,
pp. 135-139. doi:10.1254/jjp.64.135
[3] ISTA, “International Rules of Seed. Testing (Supplement
rules),” Seed Science and Technology, Vol. 27, 1999, pp.
25-30.
[4] A. A. Abdul-Baki and J. D. Anderson, “Vigor Determina-
tion in Soybean Seed by Multiple Criteria,” Crop Science,
Vol. 13, No. 6, 1973, pp. 630-633.
doi:10.2135/cropsci1973.0011183X001300060013x
[5] V. G. Panse and P. V. Sukhatme, “Statistical Methods for
Agricultural Workers,” ICAR Publication, New Delhi,
1985, pp. 327-340.
[6] N. Snoek, “How Close Should Broccoli Be Planted,”
Greontenen Fruit, Vol. 36, 1981, pp. 50-51.
[7] D. W. Wood, R. K. Scott and P. C. Longdon, “The Effect
of Mother Plant Temperature on Seed Quality in Beta vul-
garis L.,” In: P. D. Hebblethwaite, Ed., Seed Production,
Off. Seed Anal., Vol. 54, 1980, pp. 50-60.
[8] W. Crocker and L. V. Barton, “Effect of the Conditions of

Influence of Date of Transplanting on Growth and Yield Attributes and Resultant Seed Quality of Davana 1724
Seed Formation and Storage on Germination, Physio-
logical Basis of Seed Germination,” American Publishing
Co., Pvt., New Delhi, 1995.
[9] S. S. Gill and B. S. Gill, “Influence of Time of Trans-
planting in Radish,” Seed Research, Vol. 23, 1955, pp.
28-30.
[10] A. D. Warde, V. S. Gonge, L. V. Kulwal and J. Giri, “Ef-
fect of Time of Planting and Spacing on Seed Yield and
Quality of Radish Var. Pusa Chetki,” Agricultural Sci-
ence Digest, Vol. 24, No. 1, 2004, pp. 21-23.
[11] A. G. Castillo, J. G. Hampton and P. Coolbear, “Effect of
Sowing Date and Harvest Timing on Seed Vigour in Gar-
den Pea (Pisum sativum L.),” New Zealand Journal of
Crop and Horticultural Science, Vol. 22, No. 1, 1994, pp.
91-95. doi:10.1080/01140671.1994.9513810
[12] M. M. Greven, B. A. McKenzie and G. D. Hill, “The
Influence of Stress on Yield, Abortion and Seed Size of
French Dwarf Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.),” Proceed-
ings of Agronomy Society New Zealand, Vol. 27, 1997, pp.
101-108.
Annexure
Annexure 1. Weather data from Aug 2011-Mar 2012.
Month Maximum
temperature ˚C
Minimum
temperature ˚C
Relative
humidity 1
Relative
humidity 2Rainfall (mm) Sun shine (hours)
Rainy
days
Evaporation
(mm)
AUG-11 31.3 22.8 87.2 56.4 0.2 4.6 1 4.9
SEP 31.2 23.0 90.9 60.4 1.6 7.4 4 5.6
OCT 22.6 20.1 90.6 59.3 7.4 6.5 14 4.3
NOV 28.7 20.8 89.7 61.0 8.1 5.4 11 3.2
DEC 29.3 19.1 89.2 52.0 0.4 6.4 1 3.3
TOTAL 143.1 105.8 447.6 289.1 17.7 30.3 31.0 21.3
AVERAGE 28.6 21.2 89.5 57.8 3.5 6.1 6.2 4.3
JAN-12 29.6 19.1 88.9 48.1 68.9 8.1 0 3.4
FEB 30.9 20.9 85 36 0 8.8 0 5.1
MAR 35.6 20.9 80 30 0 9.3 0 6.5