Abstract
Rapid vegetative propagation of promising multipurpose trees is an important need in agroforestry development. Grewia optiva andRobinia pseudoacacia are two such species, about the propagation of which very little is known. The rooting ability of stem cuttings harvested from juvenile (2 year-old) and mature hardwood(15 year-old) trees of Robinia pseudoacacia andGrewia optiva was significantly influenced by the period or season of harvesting cutting. Juvenile cuttings of both species rooted significantly better (42.9% in R. pseudoacacia and 46.6% in G. optiva) than mature hardwood cuttings (34.7% in R.pseudoacacia and 41.4% in G. optiva). The effect was more pronounced in auxin treated cuttings. InR. pseudoacacia, the highest rooting in juvenile(83.3%) and mature (66.6%) cuttings prepared in spring season was observed with the NAA (500 mg/l) treatment. InG. optiva, IBA (250 mg/l) in the monsoon season was most effective and recorded a maximum of 80% and 70%rooting in juvenile and mature cuttings, respectively. The auxin treatments also significantly enhanced the number of roots (23.8 inR. pseudoacacia and 17.6 in G.optiva) and their mean length (14.3 cm inR. pseudoacacia and 16.1 cm inG. optiva). Interactions between age, season and treatments were significant at P < 0.05 level for rooting percent in R. pseudoacacia and non-significant for G. optiva. The results of this study suggest that it is possible to develop clones of genetically superior trees of R. pseudoacacia and G.optiva for use in agroforestry or afforestation programmes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahuja M.R. and Libby W.J. 1993. Clonal Forestry. Vols. I-II. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.
Aminah H., Dick J.McP., Leakey R.R.B., Grace J. and Smith R.I. 1995. Effect of indole butyric acid (IBA) on stem cuttings of Shorea leprosula. Forest Ecology and Management 72: 199-206.
Andres E.F. de, Alegre J., Tenorio J.L., Manzanares M., Sanchez F.T. and Ayerbe L. 1999. Vegetative propagation of Colutea arborescens L., multipurpose leguminous shrub of semiarid climates. Agroforestry Systems 46: 113-121.
Arce P. and Balboa 1991. Seasonality in rooting of Prosopis chilensis cuttings and in vitro micropropagation. Forest Ecology and Management 40: 163-173.
Barrette R.P., Mebrahtu T. and Hanover J.W. 1990. Black locust: A multipurpose tree species for temperate climates. In: Janick J. and Simon J.E. (eds), Advances in New Crops. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Dick J.McP. and Dewar R.C. 1992. A mechanistic model of carbo-hydrate dynamics during adventitious root development in leafy cuttings. Annals of Botany 70: 371-377.
Duncan D.B. 1955. Multi Range and Multi F Tests. Biometrics 11: 1-42.
Gupta R.K. 1993. Multipurpose Trees for Agroforestry and Waste-land Utilization. Oxford & IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 562 pp.
Harris P.J.C. 1992. Vegetative propagation of Prosopis. In: Dutton R.W. (ed.), Prosopis Species: Aspects of their Value, Research and Development. University of Durham, UK, pp. 175-191.
Hartmann H.T., Kester D.E. and Davies F.T. 1990. Plant Propagation: Principles and Practices. 5th edn. Prentice-Hall Publishers, Englewood Cliff, NJ, USA, 647 pp.
Kanwar K., Khosla P.K. and Rana R.K. 1997. Micropropagation of thornless/nearly thornless Robinia pseudoacacia: An analysis of production cost. Indian Journal Forestry 20: 248-250.
Leakey R.R.B., Chapman V.R. and Longman K.A. 1982. Physiological studies for tropical tree improvement and conservation-Factors affecting root initiation in cuttings of Triplochiton scleroxylon K. Schum. Forest Ecology and Management 4: 53-66.
Leakey R.R.B., Newton A.C. and Dick J.McP. 1994. Capture of genetic variation by vegetative propagation: processes determining success. In: Leakey R.R.B. and Newton A.C. (eds), Tropical Trees: The Potential for Domestication and the Re-building of Forest Resources. HMSO, London, UK, pp. 72-83.
Mebrahtu T. and Hanover J.W. 1989. Heretibility and expected gain estimates for traits of black locust in Michigan. Silvae Genetica 38: 125-130.
Mudge K.W. and Brennan E.B. 1999. Clonal propagation of mul-tipurpose and fruit trees used in agroforestry. In: Buck L.E., Lassoie J.P. and Fernandes E.C.M. (eds), Agroforestry in Sustainable Agricultural Systems. CRC Press/Lewis Publishers, New York, USA, pp. 157-190.
Poupard C., Chauviere M. and Monteuuis O. 1994. Rooting Acacia mangium cuttings: effects of age, within-shoot position and auxin treatment. Silvae Genetica 43: 226-231.
Puri S. and Khara A. 1992. Influence of maturity and physiological status of woody cuttings: Limits and promises to ensure successful cloning. Indian Forester 118: 560-572.
Puri S. and Swamy S.L. 1999. Geographical variation in rooting ability of stem cuttings of Azadirachta indica and Dalbergia sissoo. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 46: 29-36.
Sehgal R.N. and Khosla P.K. 1992. Genetic improvement and establishment of seed orchard of Grewia optiva. Technical Report. ICAR, New Delhi, 94 pp.
Singh G.B. 1999. Agroforestry research in India: Issues and strategies. Indian Journal of Agroforestry 1: 1-14.
Singh R.V. 1982. Fodder Trees of India. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, pp. 161-169.
Snedecor G.W. and Cochran W.G. 1989. Statistical Methods. 8th edn. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, 649 p.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Swamy, S., Puri, S. & Kanwar, K. Propagation ofRobinia pseudoacacia Linn. and Grewiaoptiva Drummond from rooted stem cuttings. Agroforestry Systems 55, 231–237 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020579516144
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020579516144