Seed maturation indices for better regeneration and multiplication of haldu (Adina cordifolia)

Abstract

Haldu (Adina cordifolia Roxb. Hook. f. ex Brandis) is large deciduous tree species of family Rubiaceae. It is one of the common associate species in West gangetic moist mixed deciduous forests and on well-drained deep soil in Shivalik. It also occurs in dry region of Ceylon and sub-Himalayan tracts from Nepal Eastward to Asom. In Western Himalayas, it is confined to outer slope up to 1000 m. The tree occurs scattered in the deciduous forests throughout India, with exception of arid region of Rajasthan (Mandal et al. 1984). The wood of the species is used for making doors and window frames, plywood. The species is also heavily exploited for fuelwood and fodder. Natural regeneration of the species is very difficult as the minute seeds (about 11 million seeds/kg) as well as young seedlings in forests are washed away very easily and thus survival and establishment in forests is very less. The species therefore requires immediate attention for its regeneration, cultivation and conservation (Kaushal et al. 2010). Exact knowledge of maturity time is therefore essential to avoid the collection of immature and non-viable seeds which can cause nursery and plantation failure. The present study was therefore conducted to develop seed maturation indices for better regeneration and multiplication of the Adina cordifolia. Fruits of haldu were collected from Tanda (29°02 N, 079°23 E and 242.42 m amsl) and Lalkuan (29°04 N, 079°30 E and 230.2 m amsl) forests of tarai and Bhakara (29°10 N, 079°25 E and 287.87 m amsl) and Barheni (29°14 N, 079°17 E and 318.18 m amsl) forests of bhabar region. Fruits were collected starting from first week of April and continued every seven days until the fruits were not available. For collecting the fruits, five healthy average sized trees were selected on phenotypic basis. After collection, the fruits were brought at field laboratory of Agroforestry Research Centre (AFRC) of G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand (29° N, 79°.3 E and 243.84 m amsl) during April–May 2010. The fruits were dried in sunlight till opening. Fruit colour, moisture content per cent and specific gravity was recorded during each collection dates at all the collection sites as per standard procedure (ISTA 1993). The germination study was conducted in germinator which was maintained at 25±2ºC temperature. The data were statistically analyzed using two way ANOVA (Snedecor and Cochran 1967) to find out the presence of significant difference between sites and dates. The analysis was carried out with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) windows software package.