Seed size and its influence on germination, seedling growth and biomass in Saraca asoca (Roxb). De Wilde, critically endangered tree species of Western ghats, India
Article Main
Abstract
Saraca asoca (Roxb). De Wilde is one of the high traded medicinal plant species of India. There is a huge demand for bark of this species both in domestic and international markets. There is a demand for quality planting materials for large scale plantation. Forest department and farmers have already initiated captive plantation of this species. Several factors affect the seedling quality in nursery. Seed grading is one among them. The present study aims at understand the influence of seed size on seed germination and seedling vigour in S. asoca. Association study showed that seed length was positively correlated with seed weight (r= 0.887), seed width (r=0.697) and thickness (r=0.621). Therefore, seed length was used to categorize seedlot into small (< 30.0 mm), medium (30.1-40.0 mm) and large (> 40.1 mm) seeds. Result showed that larger seeds produced maximum germination (86.7%) as compared to smaller seeds (45.0%). Moreover, larger seeds attained higher collar diameter (3.34 mm) and dry biomass viz., leaf biomass (0.91 g), shoot biomass (0.31 g), root biomass (0.95 g) and entire seedling biomass (2.17 g) as compared to smaller seeds. Seedlings raised from medium seeds were at par with larger seeds in most of the traits. Therefore, it is suggested to use seedlot having > 30 mm length, preferably larger seeds (> 40 mm) in the nursery for better establishment of quality seedlings.
Article Details
Article Details
Conservation, Germination, Saraca asoca, Seed size, Seedling vigour
Dar, F.A., Gera, M. and Gera, N. (2002), Effect of seed grading on germination pattern of some multipurpose tree species of Jammu region. The Ind. For., 128: 509-512.
Gomez, K.A. and Gomez, A.A. (1984). Statistical Procedures for Agricultural Research (2nd ed.). Published by John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 680.
Gunaga, R. P., Hareesh, T.S. and Vasudeva, R. (2007). Effect of fruit size on early seedling vigour and biomass in white dammer (Vateria indica): a vulnerable and economically important tree species of the Western Ghats. J. Non Timber Forest Products, 14: 197-200.
Gunaga, R.P. (2011). Influence of seed size on seed germination and seedling vigour in Calophyllum inophyllum: an important multipurpose tree of coastal region. J. Indi. Soc. Coastal Agril. Res., 29(2): 35-38.
Gunaga, R.P., Doddabasav and Vasudeva, R. (2011). Influence of seed size on germination and seedling growth in Mammea suriga. Karnataka J. Agricultrual Science, 24 (3): 415-416.
Gunaga, R.P., Mayur, M.M., Wanage, S.S., Mirgal, A.B., Patwardhan, A., Rane, A.D., Narkhede, S.S., Bhave, S.G. and Vasudeva, R. (2012). Variability in seed traits and seedlings growth of different populations of Saraca asoca in Konkan region. In: National Conference on Biodiversity assessment, conservation and utilization held at MES Abasaheb Garware College, Pune from 9th to 11th Feb. 2012, Book of Abstract, pp. 42-43.
Haridasan, K., Sharma, A., Buyan, C. R. and Bisht, N. S. (2003). Medicinal sector in Arunachal Pradesh – on overview. The Indian Forester, 129(1): 37-47.
Manonmani, V., Vanangamudi, K. and Rai, R.S.V. (1996). Effect of seed size on seed germination and vigour in Pongamia pinnata. J. Tropical Forest Science, 9: 1-5.
Middlekoop, T. B. (1985). Evaluation of Asoka Aristha: a drug indigenous to Srilanka. Pharmaceutisch weekblad, 7(6): 283-284.
Negi, A.K. and Todaria, N.P. (1997). Effect of seed size and weight on germination pattern and seedling development of some multipurpose tree species of Garhwal Himalaya. The Indian Forester, 123: 32-36.
Ponnammal, N.R., Arjunan, M.C. and Antony, K.A. (1993). Seedling growth and biomass production in Hardwickia binata Roxb. as affected by seed size. The Indian Forester, 119: 59-62.
Ray, S., Chatterjee, B. P. O. and Ray. S. (1995). Saracin: a lectin from Saraca indica seed integument recognizes complex carbohydrates. Phytochemistry, 40(3): 643-649.
Rezapour, R., H. Kazemiarbat, M. Yarnia and P. Z. Moattar (2013). Effect of seed size on germination and seed vigor of two soybean (Glycin max L.) cultivars. International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences, 4(11): 3396-3401.
Ved, D.K. and G.S. Goraya (2007). Demand and Supply of Medicinal Plants in India. NMPB, New Delhi & FRLHT, Bangalore, India.
Walad, B. (2008). Distribution, Population Structure and Regeneration Status of Remnant Populations of Saraca asoca (Roxb.) De Wilde in the Central Western Ghats. In: National workshop on “Forest, Medicinal Plants and People” held at the College of Forestry, Sirsi. p. 75.
This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) © Author (s)
