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Effects of shade regimes and planting geometry on growth, yield and quality of the natural sweetener plant stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) in north-western Himalaya

During 2008 and 2009, field experiments were conducted at the research farm of CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, India to assess the effect of shade levels (no shade, 25% shade, 50% shade, 75% shade) and plant geometry levels [30 × 15 cm (north–south, N–S), 45 × 10 cm (N–S), 30 × 15 cm (east–west, E–W) and 45 × 10 cm (E–W)] on the growth, yield and quality of stevia. Plant development was fastest in controls and slowest in stevia plants growing at minimum light (75% shade). These plants showed delayed bud formation and flowering. Significantly, higher dry leaf yield was recorded when the crop was grown under 25% shading than under 50 and 75% shade. Total steviol glycosides content decreased with increasing shade levels. All shade levels resulted in the same leaf-to-stem ratio, which was significantly higher than that obtained under ambient light. Plant geometry significantly affected the number of leaves and leaf dry weight plant–1. During both years, dry leaf weight was highest in the wider row spacing (45 × 10 cm) than in the narrow row spacing (30 × 15 cm). Stevia spaced at 30 × 15 cm in an E–W direction recorded significantly higher total steviol glycosides at 2 months after transplanting (MAT).