Studies on Improving Seed Set and Quality in Glory LilyThrough Pollination Methods

A field experiment was conducted to study the stigma receptivity and method of pollination in improving pod and seed quality in glory lily at Botanical Garden, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. Results revealed that, dusting of foreign pollen on the stigma (pollination) one day after anthesis resulted in higher pod set of 88 per cent, while pollination on the day of anthesis resulted in 80 per cent and bud pollination one day before anthesis resulted in 68 per cent pod set. These results clearly revealed that the stigma of glory lily flower was receptive even before anthesis and continued to attain the maximum receptivity one day post anthesis. Among different pollination methods, hand pollination was the best as revealed through the superiority in terms of pod and seed yield parameters such as maximum pod set (96 %), higher pod length (8.4 cm), pod girth (6.8 cm) and weight of pod (4.92 g) and higher seed weight per pod (3.04 g), number of seeds per pod (74.0) and shelling percentage (61.78 %) accompanied with better seed quality parameters such as higher germination (54 %) and vigour index (1252) of the seeds in glory lily.