Performance of gerbera cultivars under low cost polyhouse

Nine promising cultivars of gerbera viz. Fanna, Deep Purple, Shania, 68385, Jaffna, Wall street, Venice, Lion and Dephane were selected for cultivation inside low cost polyhouse under front line demonstration programme. Cultivar Jaffna recorded maximum plant spread, diameter of flower and yield/m² and minimum stalk length. Cultivar 68385 recorded maximum stalk length, stalk thickness and minimum days to flower. Wall Street recorded maximum number of flowers/plant and minimum yield/m². Cultivar Jaffna, 68385 were found to be promising cultivar for adoption under wide scale demonstration programme in the Ri-Bhoi district. The achieved benefit:cost ratio of 3.5 was quite high indicating it could be good profitable venture for crop diversification and generating rural employment.