Variations in certain wood quality parametersof Melia dubia Cav.

摘要

Melia dubia Cav. has established as an alternate species under various agro-forestry systems. Consequently plantation area has increased substantially over the years, particularly under irrigated conditions. The species not only has wider adaptabilityacross geographical regions over varying soil types but has also been reported to be productive with clear bole and merchantable biomass. Therefore, analysis of certain wood properties for varying genetic resources of species was conducted at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun for screening quality planting stock of the species so to enable growers to choose planting stocks with known wood parameters. The wood samples were collected from thirty nine genotypes of thirteen progenies and subjected to analyze growth and wood traits. All the progenies had significant variations for all growth and wood parameters. Specific gravity and fiber length were found to be the most important parameters for heritability. The progenies were grouped into five clusters, though Cluster V had maximum number of progenies (5), cluster one was found to be most productive for growth and wood parameters. Correlation analysis reveals no significant relationship among the growth and wood quality parameters, hence it could be inferred that further propagation of superior trees can be done based on wood quality parameters only, without considering the growth traits.