Phenological Studies on Azadirachta indica A. Juss. (Neem) of Satpura and Adjacent Agro-climatic Zones of Madhya Pradesh (India)

Phenological studies on Azadirachta indica A. Juss (Neem) of different agro-climatic zones viz Narmada valley, Vainganga valley and Satpura plateau are described. Major leaf-fall period fell between February-March except in Narmada valley where it was extended up to April. Leaf emergence initiated during February-April in different agro-climatic zones. Vegetative phase lasted for seven months (August-January) in all climatic zones except Vainganga valley where it lasted for six months only. Flowering initiated in February in all the climatic zones while in Narmada valley, it was noticed during March. Fruiting was initiated during March-April. The impact of climate was observed on the morphological and phenological characteristics of Neem. The significant variations among the quantitative phonological parameters like leaf, flower, fruit-abundance, leaf-area, leaflet area and leafweight for different climatic zones. These variations were non-significantly correlated with growth-parameters like gbh, tree-height, crown-diameter and crown-height. Significant positive correlation between flower and fruit- abundance was obtained which indicated that increasing flower-abundance enhanced fruit production.