Heliconia Plant

Coconut is an important plantation crop in Goa being cultivated in an area of 25,730 ha with an average yield of 5014 kg per hectare. In general, coconut is planted at a spacing of 8x8m and interspace in majority of the coconut farms is either unutilized or underutilized. Hence, in order to enhance the profitability of coconut, various crops and other components were evaluated. Among them, Heliconia, an exotic introduced flower, crop performed well under coconut plantation for three years (2009-2012). The study included 45 varieties of heliconia under coconut garden for various vegetative and floral characters. The flowers were supplied to the market and the feedback from the market is documented to short list the most promising heliconia types with high floral value.