Umed Pun

King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang · Department of Food Engineering

The propagation success of bougainvillea through hardwood stem cutting varied with rooting hormones and rooting media. This experiment was carried out to study the effect of rooting hormone and rooting media on hardwood cuttings of Bougainvillea glabra cv. Double Red during April-July, 2021. The treatments were combination of rooting hormones [Indo...

People around the globe are demanding more enticing and delicious food. The aesthetics and quality of foodstuff contribute to appearance and nutritive value of consumed meals. Edible flowers could increase the allure and charm of some foods. Since ancient times, edible flowers have been added to meals to enhance its nutritive and sensory characteri...

People around the globe are demanding more enticing and delicious food. The aesthetics and quality of foodstuff contribute to appearance and nutritive value of consumed meals. Edible flowers could increase the allure and charm of some foods. Since ancient times, edible flowers have been added to meals to enhance its nutritive and sensory characteri...

In Nepal, the floriculture industry consists of flower farms, nurseries and flower stores (wholesale and retails). The total area under commercial flower production farms is 178 ha. and is spread in 48 districts across the country. The main flowers and flori-business produced are cut flowers, pot plants, loose flowers, landscaping and bulbs rhizome...

Postharvest loss of cut flower at all the stakeholders in Nepal before reaching consumer is about 20-25% in Nepal. The major problem in gerbera for its vase life is stem or scape bending. This study was aimed to assess the effect of calcium chloride and different floral preservatives in the vase life and to evaluate the quality of different varieti...

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) ‘Nam Dok Mai Si Thong’ is an important cultivar for export from Thailand. Export mainly takes place via air transport, but for about 2 h at the loading area (tarmac), unit loading devices (ULDs) are exposed to ambient environmental conditions. In this research, the effects of different temperature conditions at the loadi...

Light is important for growth and development of plants. However, in protected cultivation quality of light is very critical. In this study, quality of light (photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and Ultraviolet (UV)) transmission was measured in several greenhouse under flowers and vegetables cultivation in different parts of Nepal. The measu...

Gerbera is one of the popular cut flower in Nepal which requires specific crop management and plant protection measure for quality cut flower production to the nepalese and international market. This study was carried out during summer and rainy season of 2018 to assess the major insects and diseases of Gerbera by visiting the selected farms and us...

Chiuri (Diploknema butryaceae) is an economically important native plant of Nepal primarily grown for butter and bee keeping. Presently, trees are mainly grown from seedlings and it takes 6-10 years to come to bearing. This research was designed to determine the possibility of best vegetative propagation technique (grafting) of Chiuri (Wayo type) t...

Chiuri (Diploknema butyracea) is a medium-sized tree that inhabits in sub-Himalayan tracks of steep slopes and cliffs at an elevation of 400 to 1400 meters from west to east of Nepal. It belongs to Sapotaceae family of plant kingdom. This study was conducted to assess status of Chiuri tree in Raksirang Rural Municipality (RRM) with particular inter...

Marigold has special values in Nepal as elsewhere. Especially during light festival (Depawali) huge quantity of this flower is consumed for home decoration. Consumer' prefers higher longevity, contrasting colors and variation in size whereas producers prefer higher yielding and types preferred by the consumers. Local varieties are monotonous, not c...

Cultivation technology of Cymbidium Orchids in Nepal.

Globally, exotic plants form a major part of the ornamental horticulture industry. A survey was conducted in some commercial nurseries and home gardens of Ilam and Jhapa districts of Nepal to understand the diversity of plant species. This study focused on the composition of different types of ornamental plants (trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials...

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of human life across the world and has further exacerbated the impact of fi nancial crisis brought about by agrarian crisis, job crisis, rise in oil prices and trade renegotiations. Floriculture industry of Nepal was not an exception and was severely impacted too. Floriculture Association Nepal (FAN) c...

Post-harvest shelf life study of carnation cut flowers

Experimental results of vase solution treatments with chemical preservatives for the longer vase life of carnation cut flowers

Review on factors affecting the postharvest shelf life of carnation cutflower

The provision of green space and landscaping of village or town is an integral part of a modern living space. The role of a local government has been described to provide adequate green space to the citizens.

Flowering opening is a reproductive trait of flowering plants. The knowledge on stages of flower opening is important for quality flower production, optimum time of harvesting and post harvest handling of cut flowers.

Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) is one of the most commercially important cut flowers of the world. It can be used for cut flowers, bedding, edging, boarders, pots and rock garden. Four Spanish carnation varieties were tested with three levels of boron under ultraviolet stabilized polytunnels from August 2017 to April 2018 at Godawari, Nepal....

Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. don), commonly known as ‘Panchaule’ in Nepal, is a terrestrial orchid found in temperate to the alpine region. It is valued for its ornamental and medicinal use. It is collected haphazardly from nature due to high economic demand. However, its propagation is limited in nature due to its non-endospermous seeds requiring my...

A foot survey of ornamental plants was conducted in central business district (CBD) of Freetown city of Sierra Leone. The survey revealed 1887 plants growing in the CBD area. The highest concentration of plants was found in Saika Steven Street (357), followed by Lightfoot Boston Street (237) whereas the least was found in ECOWAS Street (0). The sur...

Floriculture sector is one of the most emerging sectors of agriculture in Nepal and is steadily growing for about three decades and has hit NPR 2250 million in the fiscal year 2017/18. However, the major business is concentrated in Kathmandu district in particular and Pradesh 3 in general. There is discrepancy in district wise coverage of flower bu...

Floriculture business in Nepal is steadily growing for about three decades and has hit NPR 2,250 million in the fiscal year 2017/18. However, the major business is concentrated in Kathmandu district in particular and Pradesh 3 in general. There is discrepancy in district wise coverage of flower business but with federalism, a new opportunity can be...

Carnation is one of the most important cut flowers of Nepal. This paper highlights the major pest and diseases of this crop and also their effective management.

This article highlights the current status of floriculture research in Nepal and the role different organization has played. It examines both research and development role of various organizations such as university, research organization and development agencies both from government and non-government sector. The current problems of the industry i...

Nepal has begun producing a range of cut flowers and is producing some cut flowers such as gladiolus, carnation, gerbera and rose all through the year. In 2013, floriculture promotion policy was enacted by government of Nepal and the investment of government sector in floriculture increased dramatically. Production of cut flowers is slowly but stea...

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of spacing and pinching on growth parameters of African marigold var. Inca Orange-1KS at Horticulture Research Station, Malepatan, Pokhara. The experiment consisted of 2 spacing (40 cm × 60 cm and 40 cm × 45 cm) and 3 pinching (no pinching, single pinching and double pinching) and laid out in factoria...

Floriculture industry in Nepal is growing at a steady rateon an annual basis for last several years. The growth of different products of floriculture can be categorized into fast or slow growing. Some products such as seasonal flowers and seeds, ornamental plants, cut flowers and foliages etc is growing in faster rate whereas other products such as...

This book enlists 65 beautiful ornamental flowering plants of Nepal that includes trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials. It describes each of these plants with colour pictures, botanical, common and Nepali names. Further, detail characteristics of each plant is highlighted with special attention to ornamental parts. Flowering time, altitudinal di...

Horticulture therapy can be useful for improving mental health as well as cognitive rehabilitation. It was popular during the early part of the last century but lost its popularity with the development of psychotropic medicines during the 1950s. Recently, it is becoming popular with much success in cognitive rehabilitation and mental health care. T...

Coffee sub-sector has potential to be an important exportable commodities from Nepal while viewing the production and export figure from last twenty years. Despite such scope the coffee industry at present is threatened by some emerging pest and disease problem. Further this industry is searching for suitable technologies related to organic product...

Gerbera ranks fifth among the top cut flowers in the world, and comes in all different colours. It is primarily grown in temperate countries; but since the last few decades ago it has also been grown in subtropics and tropics. Although stem bending is one of the major problems of gerbera effective remedial measures has been developed in major growi...

Application of sugars extends the vase life of many cut flowers. The role of applied sucrose in petal senescence of cut carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus cv. Barbara) was investigated. Petal senescence was significantly delayed by 5% sucrose treatment. Although glucose, fructose, and sucrose concentrations decreased in the petals of control flowers...

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of pre-harvest spray of plant growth regulators on corm/cormel characteristics and post-harvest performance of Gladiolus cv. American Beauty. Three levels of NAA (50ppm, 100ppm and 150ppm), three levels of GA3 (50ppm, 100ppm and 150ppm), three levels of Kinetin (50ppm, 100ppm and 150ppm) and contr...

This paper documents the present situation of commercial Cymbidium farming in Nepal. It highlights, the prices of Cymbidium cut flowers at wholesale and retail, government initiative to expand Cymbidium business and opportunities and challenges of this sector.

Floriculture in Nepal began about seven decades ago by palace gardeners. However, it developed in a more organised pattern only after formation of Floriculture Association of Nepal (FAN) in 1992. The growth of the flower industry is quite satisfactory but the growth of the different product and services is different. Some products and services such...

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of plant growth regulators on growth and flowering of gladiolus cv. American Beauty. The treatments comprised of different concentration of different plant growth regulators. Three levels of NAA (50ppm, 100ppm and 150ppm), three levels of GA (50ppm, 100ppm and 150ppm), three levels of Kinetin (50p...

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the growth and yield of African marigold cv. Calcutta Local through pinching and using different levels of Gibberellic acid. Results showed significant effect of pinching and Gibberellic acid on plant growth and flower yield.

A field investigation was carried out during July 2008 to April 2009 in a farmer’s field at Gunjanagar-5, Chitwan, Nepal to evaluate the influence of time and intensity of pruning on growth and flowering behaviour of cut rose cv. Super Tata ( Rosa hybrida ). The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized block design with nine treatment com...

A study was carried out to standardize nitrogen application at different stages of tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) (cv. Double) for improving growth, flowering and vase life in a farmer's field at Gunjanagar VDC, Chitwan, Nepal, during May to September, 2012. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with 10 treatments of ni...

The vase life of cut carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus cv. Barbara) flowers was significantly extended by continuous treatment with 1% (v/v) ethanol. To investigate effects of ethanol on sensitivity to ethylene, flowers were pre-treated with aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) prior to placement in ethanol solution and exposed to ethylene at 0.2 and 2 μL...

This paper reveals the richness of orchid diversity in Nepal and the history of collection and trade of orchid species from the wild. It also documents the history of commercial orchid farming in Nepal especially aesthetic orchids. Furthermore, it also highlights domestication of medicinal orchids to facilitate commercial farming to meet market dem...

This paper highlights the historical facts and current status of public parks in Kathmandu Valley. Fifteen public parks were surveyed and described briefly but four public parks were explored with regards to plant diversity too. Plant diversity was high in Ratna Park and Balaju Park as compared with other two parks (Bhugol and Sankha Park).

This chapter deals with Orchids of Nepal. Major focus is on trade and resource evaluation, threats and limitation, conservation, indigenous knowledge and future prospects.

A survey was conducted to study the situation of public parks in Kathmandu valley. Historical facts about the parks were reviewed and total area under park or designated parks were calculated. Fifteen parks were identified within the valley and were found to occupy 224 ha of land. However, with the completion of one under construction park, total a...

Public parks situation in Kathmandu valley is presented and the importance of park and open space for human health is highlighted. Many parks were found to be not properly managed. The lack of urban landscape policy could be the limiting factor in systematic development of parks and urban greenery.

Tweedia caerulea flowers are sensitive to ethylene and the closing of the flowers, a characteristic of senescence, is accelerated by exposure to ethylene. T. caerulea flowers were continuously treated with ethanol at concentrations of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 %, and treatment levels at 4 % and above showed delayed closing. Ethanol accelerated climac...

A study was carried out to access the influence of nitrogen level (100, 150, 200, 250, 300 kg/ha) on growth performance, cut flower characteristics and corm/cormel production of three varieties (American beauty, Interpret and Candyman) of gladiolus (Gladiolus hybrida L.) in the farmer’s field at Gunjanagar VDC, Chanauli, Chitwan, during September,...

This research highlights the current status of floriculture research in Nepal and the role different organisations have played. The current problems of the industry are mentioned, and a new approach has been proposed to make both research and development of floriculture more effective.

An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of corm size and varieties on corm/cormels production and vase life of gladiolus ( Gladious grandiflorus L.) under Chitwan condition. A Field experiment was conducted in a farmer’s field at Gunjanagar VDC, Chanauli, Chitawan during November 2008 to April 2009. The experiment consisted of 12 treatment...

Effect of different preservatives for longevity of gerbera vase life

Postharvest studies were carried out in three varieties of (Gerbera jamesonii Hook.) cvs. Primrose, Malibu and Sunway to find out the effect of growing seasons (autumn, winter and spring) on the vase life of cut flowers during September 2009 to March 2010. Laboratory experiments were carried out in controlled room having 18±2 o C temperature, 68±2%...

Gerbera cultivation and postharvest management

This paper highlights the historical development of floriculture in Nepal. The phase of development has been categorised chronologically and important events at each phase has been highlighted.

Nepal Journal of Science and Technology 11 (2010) 41-46 41 Influence of Seasons and Varieties on Vase Life of Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Hook.) Cut Flower Anil Kumar Acharya1, Dilli Ram Baral2, Durga Mani Gautam2and Umed Kumar Pun3 1 Department of Agriculture, Hariharbhawan, Lalitpur 2 Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Rampur, Chitwan...

Effect of localities (Kamalbinayak, Bhaisepati and Dhulikhel) on the vase life of the cut flowers was studiedin three varieties of gerbera, cv- ‘Primrose’, ‘Malibu’, and ‘Sunway’ during September 2009 to March 2010by using a randomized complete block design in a controlled room with 18±20c temperature, 68±2% relativehumidity, and 100 lux light. The...

Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) flowers are highly sensitive to ethylene. The characteristics of programmed cell death (PCD) and the involvement of ethylene on PCD associated with petal senescence in carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus cv. Barbara) flowers were investigated. The number of "nuclei with decreased DNA", the changes in nuclear morpholog...

This study was carried out to identify appropriate vase solution to increase vase life of Carnation cut flowers. Sucrose plus HQS or STS was found to be most effective vase solution to increase vase life in both the cultivars of Carnation (Nelson and Helix).

This paper intended to review on floriculture research carried out in the country so as to recommend future strategy. Very limited studies are conducted and is mainly focussed in cut flowers such as gladiolus, rose and carnations. Several organizations were found involved in floriculture research and two primary organisations are Institute of Agric...

This paper reveals the flower buying behaviour of Nepalese of different ages. Buying behaviour is influenced by purpose, colour of flowers, type of flowers, age of buyers. Buying of flowers by Nepalese is mainly for gifting but a very small percentage also buy flowers for own consumption. All age group says, flower consumption is in growing trend a...

This study was conducted to develop an appropriate post harvest technology for four cultivars (Helix, Eskimo, Nelson and Lisa) of carnation cut flowers and grown in four different locations (Naikap, Lokanthali, Jorpati and Thecho). Six different chemical preservatives were also evaluated. Vase life of four cultivars ranged from 2.7 to 6.9 days; Cul...

This study was conducted among the nursery business of Kathmandu Valley in 2006. The findings reveals local nursery business still relying on import supply of plants and planting materials. The skills of people working in this sector was not found adequate but the demand for various products was increasing. A wholesale unit for ornamental plants wa...

This paper reviews the factors that influences the post-harvest vase life of carnation cut flowers. It includes not only pre-harvest and post-harvest factors but also suggest use of chemical preservatives to enhance vase life of carnation cut flowers.

A case study was studied on the role of an NGO on promotion of floriculture in Ichangu Naryan Village Development Committee of Kathmandu district. This paper reveals the approach that NGO played in making this area an important flower growing region and supplying to the Kathmandu market.

Various concentrations of sucrose (0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0 or 15.0%) were fed to cut spray carnation flowers cv. Barbara. Vase life, ethylene production, ACC production and ACO activity were measured. Sucrose at 5.0% extended flower vase life the most. Its effect on vase life was associated with a delay in the petal climacteric ethylene peak. The sa...

Commercial cut flower production in Nepal had its origin during late eighties of last century. This paper deals with history of commercial cut flowers production in Nepal and the current situation of cut flower production in Nepal with special reference to types of cut flowers grown, area under various cut flowers, production system (in-door or out...

The role of sugars in the prolongation of the vase life of cut flowers was reviewed. Beneficial effect of sugars on the supply of substrates for respiration and, therefore, on longer life of cut flowers is generally recognized. This widely accepted role of sugars as providers of additional substrates for respiration has perhaps largely over-shadowe...

This paper highlights current situation of post harvest handling of cut flowers with suggestions to mitigate those issues.

This paper highlights about the importance of chemical preservative on post harvest care of cut flowers. It emphasis on importance, treatment techniques, preparations of chemicals and understanding the chemical requirement of ethylene sensitive or insensitive flowers. It also provides a general guidelines for chemical treatments of cut flowers and...

Vase life assessment is an important subjective assessment technique used during postharvest studies of cut flowers. However, there are variation in the consideration of factors used during vase life evaluation among researchers thereby making comparison of results often difficult. This review highlights important factors that need to be considered...

The effects of acetaldehyde concentration (0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2,0.3, 0.4 or 0.5%) in solution on the vase life and ethylene productionoftwo carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) cultivarscontrasting in vase life (Sandrosa (long lasting) and Yellow Candy (shortlasting)) were studied. In Sandrosa, acetaldehyde solution (0.05%)increased the vase li...

Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) cv. Yellow Candy flowers were treated with ethanol solution (4%) in the absence or presence of 1 or 10 mM l-methionine, or ethanol or acetaldehyde solution (0.05%), in the absence or presence of 1 mM aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid (ACC). Spermidine in petals was measured over time in flowers treated with 4% e...

Increases in the vase life of carnation flowers have been reported with ethanol and with acetaldehyde. The increase with ethanol has been attributed either to inhibition of ethylene biosynthesis or sensitivity to ethylene or both, whereas acetaldehyde has been reported to inhibit ethylene biosynthesis only. Tomato cultivars responded differently in...

The effects of ethanol on carnation (Di‐anthus caryophyllus L.) cut flowers were studied by treating five cultivars ('Yellow Candy’, ‘Sandrosa’, ‘Francisco’, ‘White Candy’, and ‘Iury') with up to 8% ethanol solution and measuring vase life, solution uptake, delay in bud opening of flowers, and ethylene production. Treatment with 4 or 6% ethanol inc...

Floriculture business in Nepal is taking up its momentum since mid-1980's. This article focusses on floriculture trade in this country with regard to present status, training, research and developmental activities along with the problems, prospects and suggestions to improve the floribusiness in the future.

Vase life of Orchid (Vanda tesselate) was studied under ambient condition of Bhubanesar, India using some chemicals alone or in combinations. Citric acid 400ppm plus 5% glucose was found to be the most effective.

A partial survey of Orchids in relation to their host trees were conducted in the foothills of Chitwan and Nawalparasi districts of Nepal. Twenty one species of Orchids were found growing on 14 types of host trees. The most common host tree of Orchids was Sal (Shorea robusta).

In a survey, 20 species of orchids were collected from Makwanpur and Parsa districts of Nepal. Of these, 11 species were monopodial and 9 were sympodials while all were epiphytes. The distribution pattern of these orchid species was quite interesting. Makwanpur was richer with all 20 species while Parsa had only 7 species. Of the total species foun...

This paper highlights the description of Pelatnantheria insectifera as a new species in the Orchid family of Nepal. Botanical description, flowering time and altitudinal distribution of the survey area is documented.

A survey of orchid-flora was conducted during January-February, 1994, in the foothills of Chitwan and Nawalparasi districts of Nepal. 24 types of orchids were found from the surveyed areas. Of them, 12 were monopodial and the rest were sympodial, while all were epiphytes. 9 types were found in Nawalparasi and 23 in Chitwan, while 15 types were foun...

Experiment was conducted at IAAS, Rampur, Nepal to test the growth performance of deflasked and hardened Orchid (Rhynchostylis retusa) in different types of media alone and in combination of those medias. Sphagnum moss or charcoal media was found superior to other media or combinations, when all the vegetative parameters were considered.

Sixty six cultivars of rose were subjected to moderate level of pruning under Chitwan condition during October through December, 1993. Date to first flowering, number of flowers/plant and number of flower flush were recorded. Of the 34 cultivars that came to flower, Edith-Nalli Perkins was the highest yielder (13.9 nos) with maximum number of three...

This paper studied the natural variability of the Orchid (Vanda tesselata) in Chandaka forest of Odisha. Seven different types of natural variation was observed in the colours of lip, petals and sepals of the flower.