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Technology package PYRETHRUM CLONE
Summary Pyrethrum clone NPy1 is released for the high altitude highlands.
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Pyrethrum clone NPy1 Pyrethrum was introduced to PNG in the late 1950’s, to provide a source of cash income to farmers in high altitude highlands areas where coffee did not perform well. After initial successes several factors including; low farmer income, viability of the factory, and competition from synthetic pyrethroids, contributed to a decline in production. Amongst other issues, low dry flower yields and pyrethrin content are the critical problems facing the industry. A high yield of dry flowers helps maintain farmer’s income and interest, and a high pyrethrin content of the flowers is key to long term viability of the factory and industry as a whole. NARI’s research has been conducted in collaboration with the Enga Provincial Government and the Enga Pyrethrum Company, with support from ACIAR and Botanical Resources Australia. A major focus was on the identification of pyrethrum clones with high dry flower yield and pyrethrin content from a collection of clones assembles from farmer fields. A total of 76 clones were screened and evaluated and the 14 most promising clones were further tested for dry flower yield and pyrethrum content in a series of on-station and farmer field trials. While several clones out-performed the benchmark on some sites, the newly released clone consistently out-performed over all the test sites. This clone was released to interested farmers as NARI Pyrethrum-NPy1 This clone shows a moderately dense leaf canopy at the base with sparsely spread leaf canopy along stem, moderately vigorous growth with stem reaching 70-80cm. The clone is early maturing, flowering at 3-4 months, producing 85-90 flowers per plant with a 100 dry flower weight of 16-20 grams. A productive life span of 3 years is expected under good management. Average Dry Flower and Pyrethrin Yield • Dry flower yield: 203.3kg/ha • Pyrethrin yield: 3.23kg/ha • Pyrethrin content of dry flowers: 1.6% The clone will grow and produce well on suitable soils in the high altitude highlands zone of PNG (areas between 1800 to 2700m.a.s.l). This zone is provides the cooler climate needed for good crop growth, and low temperature to induce flowering. The plant requires low rainfall but well distributed rainfall throughout growing season. Fertile and well drained soils will give better results. The clone is vegetatively propagated by “slips” and should be grown separately from the other pyrethrum plants to avoid mixing with seedling plants in selection of slips for planting.
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