Effect of seed collection time and pre-treatment on germination, identification and vegetative propagation of superior germplasm of Terminalia chebula Retz. - a multipurpose agroforestry tree.

摘要

Interest in cultivation of multipurpose tree, Terminalia chebula, has been constrained by its poor regeneration, long gestation period, higher fruit set heights, unavailability of superior genotypes and lack of standardised agrotechnology. The present study investigates the effect of different harvesting time and seed treatments on seed germination, variation in fruit characteristics, and effect of sizes of root stock (diameter) and methods of grafting on sprouting success and growth of the seedlings. The seeds collected from mid January till mid March resulted in statistically significant higher germination than those collected from mid November to January beginning. Mechanical breaking of seed coat resulted in the highest germination (73.6%) which was significantly higher than all other pre-sowing treatments. The mother tree located in Mathwar in Indian province of Jammu and Kashmir, was statistically superior to other mother trees with respect to fresh and dry fruit weights, fresh pulp weight and fruit length and consequently, this mother tree was selected to obtain the scion for its further propagation using cleft grafting and patch budding. The cleft grafting resulted in significantly higher final sprouting success and growth of the seedlings. The thickness (collar diameter size) of the root stock did not influence the sprouting success but growth was significantly better in large sized rootstock.