Abstract
The investigation was carried out on 3- and 13-year-old phenotypically similar and healthy budded trees of bael cv. Pant Shivani in autumn of 2000 and spring of 2001 as per free monolith method of root excavation. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with two replications involving four factors, viz., season, age, radial distance and depth. The results showed that the tree age significantly influenced the various categories of roots. The 13-year-old trees gave significantly higher dry weight of roots than 3-year–old trees. Seasonal variation did not affect the root distribution pattern in bael. The maximum dry weight of active roots was observed at 0-60 cm radial distance from the tree trunk and at 0-20 cm depth from the ground level. The interaction between tree age and soil depth in dry weight of medium and total roots were found to be significant while rest interactions were non-significant.
Keywords