U.k. Pun and K. Ichimura
Horticulturist, Himalayan Flora Enterprises (P) Limited, Lalitpur Metropolitan
National Institute of Vegetables and Floricultural Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan (ichimu@affrc.gov.jp)
Corresponding author: umedpun@gmail.com
Received on: 14-6-2017, revised on: 25-7-2017, accepted on: 30-7-217

DOI

ABSTRACT

Gerbera ranks fifth among the top ten cut flowers in the world, and comes in all different colors. It is
primarily grown in temperate countries; but since the law 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
measure has been developed in major growing countries, and the loss has been largely eliminated.
However, stem hollowness has become a major problem for gerbera growers in Nepal incurring heavy
economic loss whereas in Japan it has been effectively managed. This problem is specific to farms located
in the warm southern plains of Nepal, and is associated with high temperature and high humidity. This
paper attempts to understand hollowness situation in Nepal, and proposes effective approach to mitigate
this problem. Although this problem of stem hollowness in gerbera is not a major issue in developed
countries it could be prevalent in the sub-tropical and tropical regions causing huge economic loss.