PROPAGATION TECHNIQUES IN FOREST TREES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ASEXUAL METHODS

摘要

Propagation of plants may be defined as the controlled reproduction by man to perpetuate selected individuals or group of individual plants, which have specific value to him. Asexual propagation is mainly used for propagating economic forest plants, which do not produce viable seeds. It is largely employed to get uniformity in the species. Once an individual tree of a species with desirable characters of high growth rate, branching habit, stem form, resistance to climatic factors, diseases and insects, wood quality, relative tolerance to drought and frost, seed production, fruit production, oil production etc. is obtained through hybridisation, it can be multiplied fast by vegetative propagation. In case of poplars, willows, mulberry etc. this has already been achieved and propagation of these species is commercially done through clones.