Effect of growth regulating substances on stratification of wild apricots (.Prunus armeniaca) kernels under Kashmir conditions

摘要

Rootstocks with desirable properties are pre-requisite for optimization of yield and quality. Report and references of rootstock effect on fruit yield, fruit quality, and resistance/ tolerance against various biotic and abiotic factors are in plenty.Wild apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) seeds and seeds of commercial cultivars are commonly used for propagating apricot. Seeds of wild apricot and other stone fruits are dormant when they are harvested and require 2-3 month stratification (Martinez and Dicenta 2001) for germination and also for normal seedling growth. But due to hard seed coat and poor germination, wild apricot fails to establish satisfactory pure stands under natural conditions. Moreover, dormant seeds contain high amount of growth inhibitors and during cold stratification, its concentration and nature are altered (Davies and Duray 2006). Further, these alterations during stratification have been correlated with the release of seed from the dormant conditions. Earlier studies revealed the changes in the levels of growth inhibitors during stratification at low temperature (Chen et al. 2008), but very little and scanty information is available with the kernels of wild apricot. The present study was therefore, initiated to overcome the problem of hard seed coat for better germination and ensure commercial nursery production under Kashmir valley conditions.