IISR Nithyashree
The leaf-oil plant: 78% eugenol in the leaf oil and the highest bark oleoresin of the Indian selections at 10%, with quality quills to go with it.
Quick facts
- Type
- Seedling selection (ICAR-IISR release)
- Season
- All seasons
- Maturity period
- First harvest about 3 years after planting; flowering from year 4, then a bark cut every 18–24 months
- Seed rate
- Planted as 10 to 12 month old nursery seedlings — about 1,100 plants per hectare at 3 × 3 m or about 2,500 at 2 × 2 m, plus 10% extra for gap-filling.
- Expected yield
- 200 kg dry quills/ha, potential 250 kg/ha; 194.6 g dry bark per plant
- Suitable soil
- Sandy or lateritic soils with plenty of humus
- Release
- ICAR-IISR Kozhikode. The institute's variety page for Nithyashree gives 1996 as the year of release, while its table of released spice varieties gives 1995.
About this variety
IISR Nithyashree is the second cinnamon selection from ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode. IISR names its special characteristics as high shoot regeneration, quality quills, and high bark oil, leaf oil and oleoresin contents that give good aroma and taste. The numbers behind that: 2.7% bark oil, 3.0% leaf oil, 10.0% bark oleoresin — the highest of the Indian selections — 58% cinnamaldehyde in the bark oil and 78% eugenol in the leaf oil. Yield is 200 kg of dry quills per hectare with a potential of 250 kg, and 194.6 g of dry bark per plant at 30.7% bark recovery. No major pest or disease attack was noticed on it.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose IISR Nithyashree if part of your income will come from oil and oleoresin rather than quills alone: 10% bark oleoresin and 78% eugenol in the leaf oil are the best of the Indian selections on both counts. Choose IISR Navashree instead if you sell quills only, because its 40.6% bark recovery against this selection's 30.7% puts about a third more bark weight in the bag from the same cutting and peeling. Choose YCD 1 at 500 to 1,000 m for higher quill tonnage with a 3,800 kg leaf crop, or PPI (Ci) 1 below 500 m if drought tolerance matters.
Key characteristics
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timePlant out in June–July with the monsoon (TNAU allows June to December). Nursery sowing of fresh seed is July–August.
- Seed ratePlanted as 10 to 12 month old nursery seedlings — about 1,100 plants per hectare at 3 × 3 m or about 2,500 at 2 × 2 m, plus 10% extra for gap-filling.
- Spacing2 × 2 m (TNAU) to 3 × 3 m (Karnataka State Spices Development Board), in pits of 50–60 cm cube.
- Sowing methodOne healthy seedling per pit filled with topsoil and about 10 kg of farmyard manure, under partial shade, with a drainage channel on sloping ground. If you intend to cut leaf for distillation as well as bark, the closer 2 × 2 m spacing builds leaf biomass faster.
- IrrigationWater twice a week through the summer for the first two or three years; after that the crop runs rainfed, with protective summer watering only.
- FertilizerAbout 20 g N, 18 g P₂O₅ and 25 g K₂O per plant with 20 kg farmyard manure in the first year, rising by that much each year to about 200:180:250 g per plant at ten years and above (TNAU); the Karnataka board gives 200:180:200 g with 50 kg of manure. Split in two, May–June and September–November.
- HarvestingCoppice at about two years, then cut 18 to 24 month old shoots in May and November. Keep the stripped leaves — this is the selection whose leaf oil carries 78% eugenol, so the leaf is a second product, not waste.
Soil & climate
Soil
- Suitable soil
- Sandy or lateritic soils with plenty of humus; tolerates poor coastal ground
- Irrigation
- Free drainage essential for young plants
Climate
- Maturity
- Hot and moist, average about 27°C
- Irrigation
- About 150–250 cm a year, mostly rainfed
- Climate
- Sea level to about 1,000 m; recommended by IISR for all cinnamon-growing areas and by the Karnataka board for both hills and plains.
Yield & maturity
Maturity period
First harvest about 3 years after planting; flowering from year 4, then a bark cut every 18–24 months
Expected yield
200 kg dry quills/ha, potential 250 kg/ha; 194.6 g dry bark per plant
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
Pest & disease considerations
Major pests
Management notes
- Spray 1% Bordeaux mixture through the rainy season for pink disease and nursery leaf spot and die-back.
- Watch the flush for cinnamon butterfly caterpillars — this matters more here, because the leaf itself is a product.
- Cut out and burn bored shoots; TNAU advises a monthly carbaryl 50 WP smear at 2 g per litre on stems and branches.
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Highest bark oleoresin of the Indian selections at 10.0%, which is what oleoresin extractors pay for.
- 78% eugenol in the leaf oil — the strongest leaf-oil profile among the Indian cinnamon selections.
- IISR names quality quills and good aroma and taste as its defining features.
- High shoot regeneration after coppicing, so the stump keeps refilling.
- Recommended for all cinnamon-growing areas of India, hills and plains alike.
Things to consider
- Bark recovery is 30.7%, the lowest of the four Indian selections — IISR Navashree gives 40.6% and YCD 1 35.3% — so a shoot cut here yields less bark weight.
- IISR's own sources disagree on the release year (1996 on the variety page, 1995 in the table) and on whether it is a seedling or a clonal selection.
- Leaf oil only pays if a distillation unit is within reach; otherwise the 78% eugenol advantage stays on paper.
- At 200 kg of dry quills per hectare it is below YCD 1 (about 360 kg) and PPI (Ci) 1 (about 980 kg of total bark).
- Planting material comes from ICAR-IISR Kozhikode or a nursery it supplies, not from every local nursery.
Suitable regions
ICAR-IISR recommends this selection for all cinnamon-growing areas of India, and the Karnataka State Spices Development Board says it suits both hills and plains.
- Kerala
- Tamil Nadu
- Karnataka
- Maharashtra
- Assam
The leaf is a second crop, not a heap of waste
Every cinnamon harvest strips a heap of leaves off the cut shoots. On most farms they are mulch. With this selection they are stock for a still: IISR puts the leaf oil at 3.0% and the eugenol in it at 78%, the highest of the Indian selections, against 62% in IISR Navashree.
Leaf oil is a different product from bark oil and sells to a different buyer. Bark oil is the costly one but comes in tiny quantity — about 4 kg a hectare — while TNAU puts leaf-oil output at about 35 kg per hectare a year. Eugenol-rich leaf oil goes into flavour, fragrance and clove-substitute uses, so the buyer is usually a distillery or an oleoresin company rather than a spice trader.
The practical check before you plant for leaf oil: is there a steam distillation unit within carting distance of your field? Leaves are bulky and lose value as they dry out, so the sum only works if they can reach a still soon after the cut. If there is no unit nearby, spread the leaves back around the stump as mulch — the Karnataka package calls spent distillation leaves one of the best mulches for holding root-zone moisture.
Can you save seed from this crop?
Do not expect seed from this plant to give the same plant back. Cinnamon is cross-pollinated and the IISR selections were picked out of variable seedling populations, so seedlings raised from a Nithyashree tree will vary in exactly the traits — oleoresin, leaf-oil eugenol, bark recovery — that make it worth planting. Multiply it instead by air layering (the ring method, with indole acetic or indole butyric acid at 50 ppm), ground layering or semi-hardwood cuttings. Any seed you do sow must be sown fresh, in shade-dried condition, as soon as the pulp is washed off.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Cinnamon (Dalchini) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Starts bearing | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IISR Navashree | A grower who sells quills and wants the most bark out of every shoot cut, anywhere in the Indian cinnamon belt | First harvest about 3 years after planting; flowering from year 4, then a bark cut every 18–24 months | 200 kg dry quills/ha, potential 250 kg/ha; 201.1 g dry bark per plant | Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam |
| IISR Nithyashreethis page | A grower with a distillation unit or an oleoresin buyer within reach, who wants leaf oil and oleoresin income alongside quills | First harvest about 3 years after planting; flowering from year 4, then a bark cut every 18–24 months | 200 kg dry quills/ha, potential 250 kg/ha; 194.6 g dry bark per plant | Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam |
| PPI (Ci) 1 | A low-elevation, rainfed garden at 100 to 500 m, for a grower who can also sell chips and dust to a grinding or distillation unit | Suitable for coppicing at 18 to 24 month intervals; the tree can be retained for up to 50 years | About 980 kg bark/ha — 248.42 kg quills plus 731.58 kg chips and dust — 25% above the Pechiparai local | Tamil Nadu, Kerala |
| YCD 1 | A Tamil Nadu or Karnataka garden at 500 to 1,000 m that wants the highest bark tonnage plus a big leaf crop for distillation | Harvest from the third year after planting; economic life about 20 years, with a bark cut every 18–24 months | About 359.75 kg quills/ha plus 3,800 kg dried leaves/ha, at 35.3% bark recovery | Tamil Nadu, Karnataka |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Cinnamon (Dalchini) is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Cinnamon (Dalchini) plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Cinnamon (Dalchini) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Cinnamon (Dalchini) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Cinnamon (Dalchini) in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Cinnamon (Dalchini) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Cinnamon (Dalchini) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Nithyashree give less bark than Navashree from the same shoots?
Because of bark recovery — the share of the cut shoot that comes off as bark. IISR puts Nithyashree at 30.7% and Navashree at 40.6%. Per plant that is 194.6 g of dry bark against 201.1 g, a small gap, but on the same hours of peeling Navashree sends noticeably more weight to the buyer. Nithyashree earns it back in oleoresin and leaf-oil quality.
What is oleoresin and why does 10% matter?
Oleoresin is the solvent-extracted concentrate of the bark — the oil plus the resinous flavour compounds — and it is what food and flavour companies buy instead of whole spice. IISR puts Nithyashree's bark oleoresin at 10.0%, against 8.0% in Navashree. If you sell to an extraction unit rather than to a spice trader, that difference is the difference in your rate.
Was it released in 1995 or 1996, and is it a seedling or clonal selection?
IISR's own two sources differ. The Nithyashree variety page on the institute's site says 1996 and calls it a seedling selection from the Indian collection; the institute's released-variety table says 1995 and calls it a clonal selection. Nothing on the ground changes either way, but it is worth knowing before you quote a release year in a subsidy or nursery application.
Can I grow this selection in the plains or does it need hills?
IISR recommends it for all cinnamon-growing areas of India and the Karnataka State Spices Development Board says this selection suits both hills and plains. What it does need is the crop's own climate: hot and moist, average around 27°C, about 150 to 250 cm of rain, sea level to about 1,000 m. Dry interior plains will not carry it whatever the selection.
How soon can I cut leaf for distillation?
Leaf comes off with the bark harvest, so the first real quantity arrives with the first cut about three years after planting, and then with every cut at 18 to 24 months. Do not strip leaves off standing shoots you intend to peel later — the shoot needs its canopy to put on the bark you are waiting for.
Sourced from: ICAR-IISR Kozhikode — Nithyasree (Cinnamon) variety page, ICAR-IISR — Varieties of spice crops (released-variety table), Karnataka State Spices Development Board — Cinnamon package of practices, TNAU Agritech Portal — Cinnamon. editorial policy.