A high yielding Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)variety, Ajmer Fennel-2 (AF-2) for better resistance, and quality with higher essential oil content to grow in India

Fennel is medicinally and economically important crop of India.Thiscrop is the rich source of antioxidants and used in many medicines tocure diseases. In spite of already available varieties there is a needfor development of high yielding, Ramularia blight tolerant varietywith higher essential oil content. A high yielding, Ramularia blighttolerant variety,AF-2 (Ajmer Fennel-2) has been released andnotified by the CVRC (Notified vide S.O.216 (E)16.01.2018) forcommercial cultivation under timely sown, recommended POP for allfennel growing areas of India. AF-2 has an average yield of 17.9 q hawhich is 10.62% and 12.94% higher as compared to national checks,RF-205 and RF-101, respectively. AF-2 is moderately resistant toRamularia blight disease and its seed contains 1.9% essential oilwhich was 18.5 % and 11.7 % higher than RF-205 and RF-101,respectively. Fertilizer requirement was 5-10 t ha FYM and 90 kg N2and 40 kg P 0 & 30 kg K 0 ha . The variety will contribute to an increasefennel production and will alleviate the socio-economic status of itsfarmers.