Suitable agro-techniques for germination and vegetative propagation of superior germplasm of Terminalia chebula Retz. - A multipurpose agroforestry tree

Abstract

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 various seed and fruit characters; effect of sizes of root stock (diameter) and methods of grafting on sprouting success and growth of the seedlings in this species. The seeds collected from February start till mid March resulted in statistically significant higher germination. Mechanical breaking of seed coat resulted in the highest germination (73.6%) significantly higher than all other pre-sowing treatments. The mother tree located in Mathwar in 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.