Assessment of inter-population genetic diversity and preliminary evaluation of suitable clones of teak (Tectona grandis Linn. F.)

Abstract

Productivity, uniformity and sustainability are the three important characters of the clonally propagated plants. With the increased use of clonal technology, the scarcity of wood products evidently decreased which has also led to reduced pressure on natural forests and ecosystem. However, the success of clonal technology rests on wise selection and deployment of suitable clones by studying the inter-population genetic diversity. The present study was conducted in a clonal seed orchard (CSO) of teak (Tectona grandis Linn. F.) comprising of 13 different clones to estimate the inter-clonal variation in terms of growth performance and genetic variability at 32 and 33 years of age. Clone ORANP2 exhibited maximum DBH (26.61cm), height (23.69 m), and stem volume (235.40 m³ha^-1) with MAI of 7.133 m³ha^-1year^-1. The highest CAI of DBH (1.08 cm) and volume (18.558m³/ha) was reported in ORANP5 and ORANR3, respectively. The study found that clone ORANP2 is a superior genotype and thus can be recommended for vegetative multiplication and ex-situ mass planting in reforestation programmes. Both heritability and genetic advance values were low for all the plant traits studied (DBH, height and stem volume) indicating that these traits are of less use for a tree breeder for furthering the selection and breeding process on teak or other tropical hardwood species across globe.