Issue 1, March 2004

Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) once neglected as minor forest produce, now have gained significant importance due to its income and employment potential. The social and economic dependence on NTFPs by the local communities (including tribes) living in and around the Wildlife Sanctuaries (WLSs) has led to depletion of the resources mainly because of the difference in the harvesting and regeneration rates. Approximately 62 per cent of the NTFPs are collected (from the study area) mainly for their roots, stem, bark and the whole plant, which could lead to destruction of the species itself if sustainability is not borne in mind. This could lead to the depletion of these resources. 60 per cent of the variation in the income from NTFPs was found to be directly related to the distance travelled for collection. The depletion of certain NTFPs increased the cost of their collection and thereby led to the economic extinction of those NTFPs even before their actual botanical extinction.  There are several intra and inter sectoral factors contributing to the economic extinction. Although 83 commercially important NTFP items are available in the study area only 28 items are collected on a regular basis indicating the economic extinction of remaining products.  This had significant impacts on the dependency and income levels of forager households.

The present study is an effort to analyse the seedling vigour of S.880, S.3399 and S.1932, three robusta coffee cultivars introduced to India from Uganda, Costa Rica and Madagascar respectively, in relation to Sln.1R (S.274), a popular robusta cultivar evolved in India. Highly significant differences were observed in seedling height, number of nodes, length of internodes, number of leaves and primary root length among the cultivars. S.1932 (Madagascar) is characterised by the shortest internodes, which is a desirable character of coffee. In S.880 (Uganda), characters like seedling height, stem girth, number of nodes, length of leaves, leaf area, number of leaves and dry weight of shoot and root showed the lowest coefficient of variation indicating the stability of the characters in the accession. Analysis of overall seedling performance also revealed the superiority of S.880 (Uganda) over the others. Correlation studies showed that stem girth of coffee is highly correlated positively to other agronomic characters.

Sln. 3R (CxR) is a hybrid variety of coffee evolved by the crossing of Coffea congensis x Coffea canephora. Sibmating was carried out for the further improvement of CxR and fourteen sibs were evolved. Evaluation of the sibs indicated that Sib 4, Sib 5 and Sib 7 recorded better yield, grade, quality and intermediate plant size. The present study is an effort to compare the seedling vigour and juvenile performance of these sibs with that of Sln. 3R (CxR). Significant differences were observed in leaf area among the four accessions. Maximum leaf area, maximum length of primary roots, maximum seedling height and leaf breadth were recorded in Sln. 3R (CxR), whereas minimum internode length was observed in CxR Sib 7. Analysis of overall performance at juvenile stage also indicated better performance of CxR seedlings over the sibmated progeny.

The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the seed source variation for germination and seedling growth characters in Hippophae salicifolia D. Don and H. rhamnoides L. in cold deserts of Himachal Pradesh. Different seed sources varied significantly for per cent germination, per cent survival, shoot length, root length, collar diameter, number of branches and Seedling Vigour Index.  Non-significant variation was observed for dry shoot and dry root weight in both the species. Chango, Sissu and Kuppa seed sources of the former and Tabo, Sissu and Chango sources of the latter species were found to be superior and seed may be collected from these sources to raise superior planting stock for afforestation.

To screen the resistance towards alkalinity and acidity, the seeds of Azadirachta indica collected from six seed sources, comprising six agro-climatic zones of Tamil Nadu were utilized. The seeds were sown between paper towel medium. The solutions of pH ranging from 1 to 12 were employed as treatments to dip the paper towels sown with seeds from different seed sources. Water served as control.  The result of the experiment proved that Azadirachta indica has the tolerance to certain level of acidity (up to pH 4) and alkalinity (up to pH 8). The species is not capable of germinating in a pH lesser than 4 or more than 8. Among the seed sources, significant variation has been exhibited. The seeds collected from Southern zone seed source exhibited good potential to tolerate a pH ranging from 4 to 8. Seeds collected from Cauvery-delta zone seed source were found to be more susceptible to extremes of pH.

The initial germination of the fresh green seeds with seed coat was 72.75 per cent and without seed coat was 68.50 per cent while in yellow seeds it was 77.5 per cent for seeds with coat and 72.25 per cent for seeds without coat. The germination percentage of yellow seeds was decreased by 42 and 89 per cent while green seed germination percentage was reduced to the quantum of 43.8 and 89.6 per cent after one and two months of storage, respectively. The per cent germination of the seeds were significantly higher when stored in cotton cloth bags as compare to polythene bags up to two months of storage. Seeds stored at 10°C showed significantly higher germination percentages than stored at room temperature and at 5°C. The lowest germination was recorded in seeds without seed coat stored at 5°C in polythene bags. Yellow seeds with seed coat when stored in cloth bags at 10°C for one month improves germination significantly.

The study was carried out for estimation of biomass and genetic variability of the seedlings of Acacia catechu Willd. during 1999 at Nauni, Himachal Pradesh. The seeds were collected from the trees having different stem forms, viz., F1 (forked), F2 (leaned), F3 (crooked) and F4 (straight) occurring at three different sites of Solan and Sirmour districts of Himachal Pradesh. Significant variation was observed in nursery parameters among seedlings. F2 showed maximum value for field germination (84.2%), collar diameter (7.2 mm), dry shoot weight (20.2 g), fresh shoot/root ratio (1.7) and dry shoot/root ratio (1.8). Forked stem form (F1) exhibited highest seedling height (66.2 cm), fresh shoot weight (47.7 g) and fresh root weight (37.7 g). Lowest values were observed in F4 except for maximum dry root weight (13.3 g). Therefore leaned (F2) and forked (F1) mother trees were found to be better for the growth and biomass traits of their seedlings. Further it is clear that the characteristics that showed high genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation, heritability, genetic gain and genetic advance are governed by the additive gene action and should be considered for selection of the individuals. Maximum value for these components except genetic advance was observed in fresh root weight followed by fresh shoot weight. Heritability was maximum in the biomass traits ranging from 91.1– 99.4 as compared to field germination (49.3), seedling height (62) and collar diameter (30.9).

Six commercial clones of jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) were studied for seed morphological traits, germination, growth and biomass production. There were significant differences (P<0.05) among different clones for seed characters and germination. The germination per cent varied from 48.5 (C-64) to 87.5 per cent (123). Significant variations were also observed in seedlings growth at one year age in the nursery. Plant height and collar diameter varied from 16.9 to 31.1 cm, and 2.6 to 4.2 mm, respectively. The number of leaves varied from 18.4 to 43.8 and number of branches from 2.5 to 4 per cent. The seedling biomass varied significantly from 1.0 gm in 879-154 clone to 2.7 gm in local clone.

The investigations indicated that nutrient status in different components of Cannabis sativa varied from month to month and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents were recorded highest in liveshoot component during the period of seed maturation.

The study was conducted during 1998-99 in the Solan and Nahan Forest Divisions of the state of Himachal Pradesh to estimate the variability for catechin content and other phenotypic characters of Acacia catechu Willd. for stem forms of trees at different sites. All the phenotypic traits, viz., tree height, crown width, number of primary branches, number of seeds per pod, heartwood specific gravity and catechin content differed significantly with various stem forms at different sites. Wide range of genetic variability was observed for almost all the characters. Tree height, diameter at breast height, crown width, catechin content, number of primary branches, number of seeds per pod and heartwood specific gravity had high estimates of genotypic coefficient of variation, heritability, genetic gain and genetic advance. Catechin content showed significant positive relation with heartwood specific gravity and diameter at breast height, whereas significant but negative relation was observed for tree height and number of primary branches. Further, the highest positive direct effect on catechin content was shown by heartwood specific gravity followed by diameter at breast height and tree height. However, crown width, number of primary branches, pod length and 100-seed weight had a negative direct effect.

A nursery experiment was carried out with Simarouba glauca Linn. seedlings to find out the best suitable biofertilizer in single or in combination for better growth and productivity. Seedlings were grown in the polybags inoculated with Azospirillum, Azotobacter and phosphobacteria @ 5 g per bag and VAM @ 10 g per bag and measured for seedling growth parameters on 45, 90, 135 and 180 days after sowing. The mean of the four stages were presented in the table for discussion. The results indicated that the combined application of Azotobacter and phosphobacteria significantly increased the shoot length and collar diameter. The inoculation of Azotobacter and VAM combination registered the maximum root length, number of leaves, root / shoot ratio, quality index and highest VAM colonization per cent. Whereas the total dry matter production and relative growth rate were higher for the combined application of Azospirillum, phosphobacteria and VAM. Phosphobacteria and VAM combination recorded the highest total leaf area.

A study was carried out for vegetative propagation of Tinospora cordifolia by taking stem cutting. The results revealed that the treatment of stem cutting with IBA 100 ppm, planted in root trainer containing Soil: FYM: Sand (4:2:1) medium, exhibited higher per cent of rooting followed by IBA 200 ppm, 300 ppm and 400 ppm as compared to control. Clonal multiplication of Tinospora cordifolia can be successfully done by treating its stem cutting with 100 ppm IBA solution.

Acacia catechu Willd. seedlings were planted with intact soil, subjected to 0 hr, 6 hrs, 12 hrs and 24 hrs root exposure durations. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with four replications.  The observations were recorded upto six months on different morphological, physiological and nutritional characters. With increase in length of preplanting root exposure, many morphological, physiological parameters, nutrient content and their uptake were affected which reduced the survival per cent. However, root exposed up to 6 hours duration performed better as far as growth rate is concerned which suggests that up to 6 hours duration bare root planting can be done without hampering growth in transplants. Survival per cent was higher in monsoon than winter planting. Therefore gap filling may be done during winter season.

Character association and path analysis of grain yield were studied among eight genotypes of rice bean during kharif 2001 in the mid-hill condition of the North Western Hill Zone. High heritability were obtained for grain yield, biological yield and days to maturity. Additive gene action was predominant for days to maturity, plant height and number of pods per plant, while gene action for biological yield and grain yield were mainly non-additive. Genotypic correlation coefficient revealed that grain yield had significant positive association with days to maturity and number of pods per plant. These characters also exhibited maximum direct effect on grain yield indicating better selection criteria for grain yields in rice bean.