BEHAVIORAL PATTERN OF MILK THISTLE (SILYBUM MARIANUM L.) AGRONOMIC PARAMETERS TO VARIABLE TEMPERATURE AND LAND ZONES OF PUNJAB

The objective of this study was to investigate the agronomic parameters of Silybum marianum to variable temperature and land zones of Punjab. Experiments were conducted at PARS, AARI, Karoor, Farooqabad and Chakwal. Sowing time and sowing conditions significantly affect the yield of milk thistle in four different localities. To see the effect of temperature/seasonal variation, seeds of milk thistle were sown at four different sowing times in different months i.e. during first week of November, December, January and February. In addition to study the effect of seasonal variation/time, some other parameters, like plant to plant spacing by providing the sufficient space for plant growth, on yield of seed and quality of silymarin were also studied. Different spaces (50, 100, 200 cm) between plant to plant were maintained to see its effect on the plan growth. Maximum growth was observed in the land locations of PARS and AAI in the month of November and December. Maximum growth performance of milk Thistle was also observed when the plant to plant pacing were 200cm. All the significant data were analyzed under CRD experiment.