Selection of delayed flowering strain in tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius L.)

Abstract

Generally, the cultivated species of jute (Corchorus capsularis and Corchorus olitorius) are photoperiod sensitive with critical photoperiod of 12-12.5 hrs. which appears twice in a year i.e., during 22nd to 30th March and 15th to 25th September [1]. Sowing of jute is planned in such a way that it gets longer vegetative period to attain maximum height with the highest stem diameter before flowering as these influences fibre yield. Though a photoperiod insensitive strain (Germany) had been reported earlier [2], but could not be directly used for cultivation because of its very short vegetative period, which flowered in and around 35 days after sowing. Two reported lines [3] in olitorius jute were valued as photoperiod insensitive lines and, satisfactory performance with respect to fibre yield from early sowing could be achieved when sowing was delayed to 1st week of April. It is now being emphasized to shift the sowing of olitorius jute to 2nd to 3rd week of March so that land become vacant for rice transplantation by middle of July. Therefore, an attempt has been made to identify genotype that can be sown as early as middle of March to get higher fibre from olitorius jute.