CINNAMON OR TRUE CINNAMON - Intercom Exports

that flush colour can be taken as a criterion for selecting quality seedlings at yhe nursery
stage. Sweet taste with aromatoc fragrance, pale brown and thin bark with high yield is
the ideal type of cinnamon needed.
PRUNING OR CROPPING
At the initials periods, the growth may be slow but as the plant advances in age,
the growth is faster. When the plants are 2 years old, they are coppiced or cut back during
June- July to a height if about 12 cm from the ground level . the stump, is then covered
by earthing up. This is repeated for every side shoot, developing from the main stem,
during the succeeding season so that the plant assumes the shape of about 2m height, and
a bunch of canes suitable for peeling would crop up in about 4 years time. Regular
peeling operations can be commenced in the case of seedling bushes from the fourth or
the fifth year, depending upon the extent of development of peeler shoots.
CROP IMPROVEMENT
The main aim of cinnamon breeding is to evolve lines having both high yield and
quality of bark. Besides quality evaluation is also very important for the development of
value added products. Quality evaluation for bark oil, leaf oil and bark oleoresin was
carried out and 9 elite cinnamon lines were selected. The next step is to evaluate the
selected lines for yield.
BREEDING STRATEGY FOR CINNAMON
Germplasm collection, conservation and evaluation
• Quality evaluation for bark oil, leaf oil and bark oleoresin
• Selection of cinnamon elite lines
• Clonal multiplication of selected lines
• Replicated field evaluation trials of seedlings and clonal progenies of selected
lines for yield
• Selection of a few elite lines(considering yield and quality)