PAU To Hold Chrysanthemum Show

Ludhiana, November 26, 2015: To make public aware of the beauty of chrysanthemums and their suitability for commercial growing and landscape use, the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) is gearing up to hold a two-day “Chrysanthemum Show” on December 8 and 9. The Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, and the Estate Organization, PAU will jointly organize the show in the Open Air Theatre, Mela Ground, PAU, Ludhiana. Dr B.S. Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, will inaugurate the show on December 8 at 12:30 p.m. The show is organized every year in the memory of a renowned Punjabi poet, Bhai Vir Singh, who had ample love for flowers and wrote many poems about chrysanthemums.

According to Dr Ajmer Singh Dhatt, Head, Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, PAU, the department is organizing a competition for the first time this year on public demand. The competition will be held among the individuals, amateurs and the institutions, he informed. There will be 13 classes (incurved, reflexed, intermediate, spider, quilled, decorative, single/semi double, pompon/button, anemone, spoon, etc.) for the competition in Japanese and Korean varieties of chrysanthemum, he added.

Dr Dhatt further said, “Chrysanthemum, also called as Queen of Autumn, ranks second in the International flower market.” The Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, PAU is a leading centre of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for conducting research on flower crops including germplasm collection of chrysanthemum, he highlighted. The department has a collection of more than 250 varieties of chrysanthemum, and released 17 varieties for loose flower, cut flower, pot production and garden decoration, he said. All the varieties will be displayed in the show, he told, while calling upon the flowers lover to visit the show.