Gladiolus breeding work has been conducted at several Indian institutions, resulting in the release of many cultivars. Notable releases include 11 cultivars from NBRI such as 'Jwala', 'Priya Darshini', and 'Gazal'. IARI began breeding gladiolus in the 1970s and released three varieties - 'Agni Rekha', 'Mayur', and 'Suchitra'. Breeding techniques used include hybridization, aneuploid breeding, and mutation breeding. Two aneuploid varieties developed were 'Archana' (2n=60) and 'Arun' (2n=67). Several institutions have developed gladiolus varieties

2. History of improvement of Gladiolus
Breeding work in gladiolus has been carried out at
•IARI, New Delhi
• IIHR, Hessaraghatta;
•NBRI Lucknow and Horticulture Experiment & Training Centre,
Chaubattia, Uttrakhand
•IHBT Palampur.
•NBRI released 11 cultivars of Gladiolus. These are 'Jwala', 'Priya Darshini'
and 'Gazal'. These are open pollinated seedling selections. ‘
•Kohra' is a cross between G. psittacinus hybrid and 'King Lear'.
• Two aneuploid cvs. 'Archana' and 'Arun' were also evolved.
•Gladiolus breeding at IARI started in seventies and three improved
varieties namely 'Agni Rekha', 'Mayur' and 'Suchitra'. were released in 1980.
Another promising variety 'Pusa Suhagin' has also been released by the
institute.

3. Scientific name :Gladiolus spp.
Family : Iridaceae
Common name : Sword lily
 Basic chromosome number : 30
It is one of the most important bulbous flowering crops grown
commercially for cut flower trade in India.
Gladiolus is hermaphrodite in nature, so new cultivars are evolved
through hybridization and mutation.
The Basic chromosome number in the genus is 30 but the number
present in the typical modern gladiolus is 60.
Many features and characteristics of gladiolus show a gradual
variation from one extreme to another. It is primarily due to its
polyploidy nature.
.

4.  To develop new cultivars with
improved plant growth.
 To get better spike quantity.
 To develop new colour.
 To get desired size and form florets.
 Symmetrical arrangement of the
florets on the spike.
 Bud counts and compactness.
 High rate of corm and cormel
multiplication.
 Stem types such as slenderness and
flexibility to high wind.
 Resistance to pests and diseases.

5. •On the basis of their geographical
origin, botanists listed the gladiolus
species into four groups viz.
•Eurasian group
•East African group
•Natalensis group
•South African Cape species

7. • Introduction & Selection
• Hybridisation
• Aneuploid breeding
• Mutation

8. Gladiolus breeding at IARI,New Delhi, started in 1970s,which resulted in the
release of several cultivars. Fourteen cultivars were found promising for cut
flower production , six were tolerant to Fusarium wilt ,one small flower variety
,”mirage” from USA was superior in sprouting of corms , spikelength ,floret
size & production of cormels .Gladiolus callinanthus &’ Margaret Fulton’ a
cultivar,proved tolerant to Fusarium wilt

9. Gladiolus being hermaphrodite has both the male and female organs in the same flower, so the desired
combinations are made by choosing either of the parents as male or female.
With the opening of the flower, the anthers are matured which may be used for pollinating already
emasculated females.
Emasculation and pollinations, both are done in the morning.
The stigma generally becomes receptive in the third day of the opening of flower or anther maturity.
If the pollens from freshly opened flowers of the same plant are applied, the seeds are set, provided other
conditions remain favourable.
Emasculation is carried out at bud stage when these have started swelling for opening.
After pollinations, the flowers are bagged with butter paper bags and tagged with labels mentioning the
parents and the date of pollination.
Some varieties developed through hybridization in India are:
IIHR, Bangalore: Meera, Nazrana, Poonam, Sapna, Aarti, Apsara
IARI, New Delhi: Agni Rekha, Mayur, Suchitra, Kum Kum, Dhiraj
NBRI, Lucknow: Manmohan, Manohar, Mukta, Manisha, Mohini, Jwala, Archana, Arun, Sanyukta,
Priyadarshini, Trilokhi, Gazal
Horticultural Experiment andTraining Centre, Chaubattia, Uttar Pradesh: Chaubattia 6/4, Chaubattia
14/23, Chaubattia 19/1, Chaubattia 21/10
IHBT, Palampur: Anurag, Brick Beauty, Cute Munni, Palampur Princess, Palampur Queenand Tushar Mauli

10. Aneuploid Breeding
Aneuploid varieties namely ‘Archana’ (2n=60) and ‘Arun’ (2n=67) were evolved through
hybridization between Gladiolus psittacinus ‘Sylvia’ (2n=75) as the female parent with
gladiolus ‘Friendship’ and ‘Fancy’ (2n=60) as male parents, repectively.
Mutation Breeding
Many gladiolus cultivars are available in commerce by spontaneous mutations and only a few
through induced ones.
Two such sports have been reported in the cvs. Salman’s Sensation and Ratna’s Butterfly.The
induced changes mostly revert back in further generations because of diplonitic selection.
Some of the varieties developed by mutations are:
Shubangini: Mutant of 'Fidelo'
White Friendship: Bud sport from cv. Friendship
Shakti: Wild rose induced mutant
Swasnima: Dhanvantari spontaneous mutant
IIHR, Bangalore: Shobha, a mutant with shell pink floret colour of 'Wild Rose'