Performance of Gladiolus Varieties Arka Amar and Arka Aayush in the Tribal Agency Areas of Alluri Sitaram Raj District of Andhra Pradesh

An on-farm trial (OFT) for three years (2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25) was conducted by ICAR-ANGRAU, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kondempudi directly in farmers’ fields of five selected villages, viz., Sirsapalli, Neelumputu, Mattijooru, Aruku, and Dumbriguda, in the tribal agency of the Alluri Sitaram Raj district of Andhra Pradesh to assess the performance of two promising gladiolus varieties, viz., Arka Amar and Arka Aayush, with regard to yield and economic analysis against the farmers’ practice variety, Arka Pratham. A total of twenty-five farmers actively participated in the OFT, covering an area of 6.5 acres. With regard to yield, Arka Amar proved to be the best, followed by Arka Aayush and Arka Pratham, with a pooled three-year spike yield of 183731.6, 169580.8, and 155936.6 spikes/ha, respectively. During the years of the trial, the days to spike emergence of Arka Pratham, Arka Amar and Arka Aayush were taken from 67.47, 76.33 and 78.47 days after planting, respectively. And also a pooled three-year number of corms per plant, the best in Arka amar (1.469), followed by Arka Aayush (1.356) and Arka Pratham (1.247). During the years of the trial, the spike yields of Arka Amar and Arka Aayush increased from 14.63% to 20.71% and 7.31% to 9.57%, respectively. Average cost-benefit ratios for the three years for Arka Amar, Arka Aayush, and Arka Pratham varieties were 1:2.75, 1:2.48, and 1:2.21, respectively. The extension gap was between 22500 and 32750 and 11250 and 14750 spikes/ha for Arka Amar and Arka Aayush, respectively. Results on the Technology Index ranged between 24.16 and 17.87, 18.48 and 14.59, and 20.21 and 17.94% for Arka Amar, Arka Aayush, and Arka Pratham (farmers’ practice), respectively, and also revealed that for both the gladiolus varieties, there is much scope for demonstrated technology in the tribal agency areas of the Alluri Sitaramraj district of Andhra Pradesh.