R. S. Dhillon , M. S. Hooda , K. S. Ahlawat , S. Kumari

Abstract

Studies on reproductive biology and breeding behaviour in karanj (Pongamia pinnata) indicated that the initiation of buds appeared along with new foliage during first half of April. Inflorescence was a raceme or panicle with 43-88 floral buds which took 13-16 days to bloom. Anthesis was acropetally. Above 70 percent buds opened between 0630 to 0830 hrs. Hermaphrodite flowers began to close at 1730 hrs onwards and closed completely by 1900 hrs of the same day. Peak flowering was from 13 to 21 days. Pod setting and development was maximum from June to August. Complete development and maturity took some 323-344 days. The dehiscence of anther started 2-3 h prior to anthesis and stigma receptivity was approximately one hour after dehiscence and continued till 1500 hrs. Honeybees, wasps and thrips were the major pollinators. Since there was no pod setting under selfing bags and open pollination was considerably low (9.6 to 40 per cent), the species appears predominantly cross fertilizing.

Keywords

Pongamia pinnata L. Pierre (Karanj), Floral Biology, Breeding Behaviour

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M. S. Hooda , R. S. Dhillon , S. Dhanda , S. Kumari , V. Dalal , M. Jattan

Abstract

Thirty plus trees of Pongamia pinnata (Karanj) were selected and their progeny was tested in the nursery. Substantial variability was recorded in seed morphological and biochemical traits of selected plus trees. Significant variation was observed in progenies for germination percentage, shoot and ischolar_main length, collar diameter and seedling biomass. Heritability and genetic advance as per cent of mean were also moderate to high for 100 seed weight, oil and protein contents, collar diameter, ischolar_main and shoot length indicating the effectiveness in selection for these characters for developing productive trees. Genetic diversity among these plus trees for important seed and seedling traits using Mahalanobis' D² analysis showed grouping of these trees into eight clusters. The clustering pattern indicated that geographical diversity did not have one to one relationship with genetic diversity. Cluster VI was the largest and consisted of seven trees followed by Clusters I and IV with six trees each. Cluster III had only one tree. Intra cluster D² values revealed that cluster VIII was most diverse (5.423) followed by cluster IV (4.131), V (4.081), I (3.915) and cluster II (3.831). Maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between clusters III and VIII (9.922) followed by between cluster V and VIII (7.085), cluster IV and VIII (6.738) and cluster III and V (6.722)). On the basis of high cluster mean and wide genetic distance, the superior plus trees of cluster III (PT- 19) and cluster V (PT- 8, PT-18. PT-24) may be used as potential parents for P. pinnata tree improvement programme.

Keywords

Pongamia pinnata (Karanj), Genetic Divergence Studies, Plus Trees

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R. S. Dhillon , M. S. Hooda , Sushil , Indu , J. S. Pundeer

Abstract

No abstract

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M. S. Hooda , D. Chopra

Abstract

The investigation was carried out to find out genetic variation in 12 provenances of Prosopis cineraria. The technique used was Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate-Polyacrlyamide Gel Electrophoresis. The electrophoretic profile of total soluble seed protein revealed characteristic banding patterns for all the provenances. The number of bands in various provenances resolved from 15 (Hisar) to 29 (Anupgarh and Jodhpur). Based on similarity values Anupgarh and Jodhpur showed their closeness, which may be due to common parentage of accumulation of similar genes from different parents.

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Virendra Singh , Rajbahadur , M. S. Hooda , Balkrishan

Abstract

Structure and distribution of ischolar_main systems were studied in 30-month old five tree species.Acasia nilotica, Leucaena leucocephala, Dalbergia sissoo, Azadirachta indica and Prosopis cinerario and two shrub species, P. juliflora and Cajanus cajan raised at a spacing of 4 × 0.5 m in an arid region of North-western India. Maximum penetration of ischolar_main systems was observed in P. cineraria (138 cm of soil depth), followed by A. nilotica, D. sisoo, L. leucocephala and P. juliflora, whereas A indica (85 cm) and C. cajan (65cm) showed comparatively a shallow ischolar_main systems. P.juliflora showed a maximum ischolar_main spread (347 cm), followed by L. leucena (228 cm), A. nilotica (216 cm), D. sissoo (187 cm), A. indica (95 cm), C. cajan (80 cm) and P. cineraria (31 cm). Top 30 cm of soil depth had the maximum distribution of ischolar_main biomass in C. cajan. A. indica and L. leucaena (45-62% of the total), whereas the 30-60 cm soil horizon had the maximum distribution of ischolar_main biomass in P.juliflora. A. nilotica and D. sissoo (34-40% of the tota1), Root distribution in P. cineraria was almost uniform throughout the soil column. Surficial location of a high proportion of ischolar_mains in the stands of C. cajan, A. indica and L. leucaena indicates that these species will show strong ischolar_main competition if intercropped with crops as compared to A. nilotiea, D. sissoo and P. Juliflora which had subsurface location of most of the ischolar_mains. A vertical ischolar_main system and narrow crown in P. cineraria, make the species most suitable for agroforestry system.

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