Comparative Field Performance of Micropropagated Plantlets of Three Bamboo Species

The experiment was laid out for assessing the performance of three micpropagated bamboo species, viz, Bambusa nutans, Bambusa tulda and Dendrocalamus asper in a complete randomised block design with three treatments, viz., control, VAM, NPK and five replicates. During two years of field trial, the survival rate was recorded to be 100% without any insect and pathogen attack. A significant variation in diameter was noticed in three bamboo species after 6 months of trial only. The species showed significant variations in culm height only at 24 months after planting, which was in the order: Bambusa nutans > Dendrocalamus asper > Bambusa tulda. The application of NPK significantly influenced culm number. Thus, culm height appears to be under genetic control, i.e. species specific and culm diameter and number under environmental control, i.e. amenable to fertilizer application.