Effect of stem cutting diameter on flower biomass of Becium grandiflorum for bee forage development

摘要

BeciumgrandiflorumisoneofthemajorhoneybeeplantstoEthiopia.Honeybeeshighlyvisitingtheplantforcollectingpollenor/andnectar.Evenstemcuttingwasrecommendedtopropagatetheplantasbeefodderwithcuttingheightof20cm,itsoptimumcuttingdiameterwasnotyetdetermined.Thisaffectstheregenerationandperformanceofnewlyraisedseedlingsoftheplantthroughcutting.Hence,thisstudywasdesignedtoidentifytheoptimumcuttingthickensordiameterofB.grandiflorumforbeeforagedevelopment.ThestudywascarriedoutatthefarmofMekelleAgriculturalResearchCenter,Mekelle.Theexperimentwaslaidinrandomizedcompleteblockdesign(RCBD)withthreetreatmentsandthreereplications.Thetreatmentswerecuttingthicknessof10mmto13mm,13mmto16mmand16mmto19mm.Treatmentsmeanswerecomparedusingleastsignificantdifference(LSD)testat5%levelofprobabilityusingGenstatsoftwareversion14.Cuttingdiameterhadsignificanteffectonthenumberofbranchesandheadflowerperplant.Cuttingdiameterof10mmto13mmhadthehighestnumberofbranches(22.96)andheadflowers(448),whilecuttingdiameterof16mmto19mmhadthesmallestnumberofbranches(18.22)andheadflowers(369)perplant.Therefore,forthesuccessfulpropagationofB.grandiflorum,itisrecommendedtouse10mmto13mmstemcuttingsdiameter.