Propagation techniques for tropical woody species of Western Ghats

Abstract

Attempts were made to identify suitable methods for propagating tree species growing in the Western Ghats region of peninsular India. The plant species that performed well with no special treatment were identified. Responses of seed treatment to enhance germination of seeds such as scarification, acid and hot water were attempted for several tree species. Though sprouting was observed in cuttings of many species under vegetative propagation trial, only few of them rooted. Propagation methods have been suggested for 47 tree species. A list of species that did not perform well under any treatment was also identified pointing to the need to identify suitable methods for their propagation.

Full text

631.53028 152 547 P (CES)
ASESSMENT OF PROPAGATION TECHNIQUES FOR FOREST SPECIES
OF THE WESTERN GHAT REGION OF INDIA: PART II SHRUBS,
CLIMBERS, LINAS AND STRANGLERS.
D.M. Bhat
K. S. Murali
N. H. Ravindranath
CES Technical Report No. 80
Centre for Ecological Sciences
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore 560 012
INDIA
&
ASTRA
Indian Institute of science
Bangalore 560012
INDIA

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ABSTRACT
The present study investigated the performance of 49 non-tree species, such
as shrubs (37), climbers (3), lianas (4) and stranglers (5) of the Western
Ghats region for seed and vegetative methods of propagation. The response
of the selected non-tree species was poor under seed methods and only
Jasminum malabaricum (Wt.) had over 50% germination in control and 2
other species had over 75% germination under different treatments. Under
vegetative propagation method, 34 species out of the 46 tried produced roots
through cuttings. Thus the vegetative propagation is suitable for most shrub,
climber, liana and strangler species.
Key words: Propagation, seed-treatment, non-tree species, Western Ghats.

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INTRODUCTION
Shrubs, climbers, lianas and stranglers form an important component of
natural forest vegetation structure in tropics and these non-tree species
contribute significantly to the biological productivity and diversity of the
forests. These provide various plant products to local communities like
fruits, flowers, fodder, fuel, manure and raw material for artisans. In the
Western Ghats region in southern parts of India many of the forest dwellers
derive products from non-tree species for subsistence. Shrubs have a large
potential because of their quicker adaptation such as establishment and fast
growth in sites where trees are difficult to grow (Maithani et al 1989). Low
nutrient requirement and elevated root-shoot ratio make them more suitable
for adopting to degraded sites (Maitahni et al 1988). Their adaptability and
production of more biomass at short interval offers the advantage of
selecting shrubs for short rotation fuelwood crops (Khanduja 1987).
However, non-tree species that may not have commercial value are rarely
included in afforestation progammes. Inclusion of these in afforestation
programmes increase the biological productivity of degraded sites, promotes
biological diversity and meets the diverse biomass needs of communities.
This study is attempted to generate information on suitable nursery
practices for propagation of shrub, climber, liana and strangler species using
seed and vegetative methods of propagation, and to identify and recommend
suitable method for propagation of non-tree species relevant to the Western
Ghats region of India.
Methodology
(i) Location of the study: Experiments were conducted in Sirsi (long. 740
35' to 750 05’, lat 140 27' to 140 48’) block of Uttara Kannada district (lat
130 55' to 150 35' N, long 740 10' E) in South India where the Centre for
Ecological Science of Indian Institute of Science has setup a field
research station.
(ii) Species selection for different experiments: The non-tree species in
this study include shrubs, climbers, lianas and stranglers. Species
selected for the study are from the Western Ghats region. These include
37 shrub, 3 climber, 4 liana and 5 strangler species (Table 1). Seeds of
many species were collected locally through hand plucking and good
seeds were chosen for the germination with different treatments.

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Vegetative propagation trial under natural nursery condition was tried for
46 non-tree species. Among the shrubs 6 species were tested for both
(seed and vegetative) methods of propagation, 3 species were tried for
propagation only through seeds and 28 species were tried only for
vegetative propagation. Seeds for all the species were not available for
attempting seed propagation. Number of species tried for propagation
through seed and vegetative propagation was 2, 3, and 4 respectively for
climber, liana and stranglers.
(iii) Experimental techniques: The experimental techniques described in
part I (as per Technical report No. 79) have been adopted for non -tree
species.
Results and discussion:
A. Propagation through seeds
1. Response of species in control: Percentage of seeds germinated in
control is given in Table 2. The response of the selected non-tree species was
poor in control. More than 75% germination of seeds was observed for only
Jasminum malabaricum (Wt.). This could be because of its large sized seed
with sufficient food reserves. In Acacia concinna and Prosopis juliflora the
germination of seeds ranged from 25 to 50%. The ability to remain dormant
for a long period is associated with seeds of species from unpredictable
environments and a high level of seed dormancy is a characteristic of dry
region (Fenner, 1985). This indicates the need for suitable environment or
treatment of seed for breaking the dormancy.
2. Response to seed treatments: Performance of seeds of various species
under different seed treatments is given in Table 3. Improvement was
observed in terms of percentage of germination of seeds of some species with
seed treatments compared to the control.
Different treatments provided are able to enhance germination of Acacia
concinna, bamboo and Prosopis juliflora (Table 3). The response Acacia for
hot water treatment and scarification has improved the germination to over
75%, whereas Propopis exhibited improvement in germination in acidification
and mechanical injury treatments. Bamboo showed improvement in

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germination under acidification and oven dry treatments. Thus the response
of species to different treatments varied. In case of Acacia concinna the
germination performance of seeds was 38% in control, but it improved to
over 77%, 70% and 97% after subjecting to hot water, acid and scarification
treatments respectively. Response of species to different treatments may
indicate the adaptation of species to different environment factors for
germination (Prasad et. al., 1988, Rai, 1978, Troup, 1921).
3. Time taken for germination: Jasminum malabaricum that exhibited over
75% germination under control took 45 days to germinate. The time taken
for over 75% germination decreased by 10 days under mechanical injury
treatment (Table 4). In case of Acacia concinna time taken for over 75%
germination was least (15 days) under scarification treatment and for
Prosopis juliflora it was least (10 days) under mechanical injury treatment.
Subjecting seeds to different treatments facilitate the passage of water or gas
that are prevented in hard-coated seeds. While hot water treatment removes
inhibitors, the scarification and mechanical injury treatments allow more
inflow of water into the seed as a result of scratches on seed coat and
opening of the coat, the oven-drying of seeds stimulates imbibition of more
water. Thus treatments have their own impact on the process of germination
of seeds. This could be one of the reasons for the change in time taken for
germination by seeds subjected to different treatments. Extended period of
germination (e.g. Prosopis juliflora in wet packing) may be an adaptation of
seeds to wait for favourable environment to grow. But induction of
synchronized germination and shortening of period of germination is
advantages in forestry to minimize the loss of seeds and to have uniform
growth of seedlings.
B. Vegetative propagation trials
Out of 34 shrubs, 3 climbers, 4 lianas and 5 stranglers tried for vegetative
propagation, rooting was observed in 23 (67%) shrubs, 2 (50%) lianas, 100%
climber and strangler species (Table 5). Response of large percentage of non-
tree species to vegetative method of propagation could be because of greater
possibility of falling of debris and limbs that frequently detach from the
growing branches. Vegetative propagation is advantageous (to shrubs,
climbers, lianas and stranglers) because it improves the chance of survival of

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offsprings of those life forms and the offsprings produced are genetically
identical to parent plant. These can adapt to the habitat and grow. Though it
is difficult to produce large number of rooted cuttings for planting due to
high cost involved, their survival rate in the field has been shown to be much
higher than that of seedlings (Fenner, 1985). In such cases vegetative
propagation is more advantageous than the establishment of seedlings. The
shrub species have a large potential in sites where the trees are difficult to
grow (Maithani et. al., 1989). However, the shrubs and other non-tree species
are rarely considered in the conventional afforestation programmes.
Initiation of roots in cuttings after the detachment is many times stimulated
by the internal or external conditions (Jain 1982, Nanda et. al., 1970),
physiological or structural hazards (Chauhan and Sehgal, 1982) and season
(Sharma and Raina, 1982). Foliar sprouting occurred in many species using
the stored materials in them, but they failed to produce roots stem cuttings.
Such phenomenon is remarkable in Bridelia sp., Glycosmis pentaphylla,
Paramignya monophylla, Calycopteris floribunda etc. But species such as
Duranta plumerii, Breynia patens, Lantana camara which failed to respond in
control as well as to many of the seed treatments have shown rooting in
vegetative propagation trial.
CONCLUSION
The main aim of the investigation was to study the performance of various
shrubs, climbers, lianas and stranglers under different seed and vegetative
methods of propagation and to identify suitable methods for their
propagation. Investigation covered 37 shrub, 3 climber, 4 liana and 5
strangler species. The response of most of the non-tree species was poor
under control method of propagation through seed. Various seed treatments
also did not improve the germination performance of these non-tree species.
Seed method is suitable for Jasminum malabarium, Acacia concinna,
prosopis juliflora and Bamboo. However, non-tree species responded well
under vegetative methods. Vegetative method of propagation is desirable for
majority of the non-tree species than through seed.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are grateful to the staff members of C.E.S. Field station at Sirsi for their
help throughout the study. We wish to thank Prof. Madhav Gadgil for his
encouragement and support. We acknowledge the Ministry of Environment
and Forestry, Government of India for funding this research project through
Centre for Ecological Sciences.
REFERENCES
1. Chauhan, P.S. and Sehgal, R.N. 1982. Propagation of forest trees by stem
cuttings. In: Khosla, P.K. (ed.), Improvement of forest biomass. Indian
Society of Tree Scientists, Solan, India.
2. Fenner, M.1985. Seed ecology. Chapman and Hall, New York.
3. Jain, M.K. 1982. Some physiological aspects of rooting of cuttings in
forest trees. In: Khosla P.K.(ed.), Improvement of forest biomass. Indian
Society of Tree Scientists, Solan, India. 161-168.
4. Khanduja, S.D.1987. Short rotation firewood forestry on sodic soils in
Northern India-research imperatives. Indian Journal of Forestry.10 (2),
75-79.
5. Maithani, G.P., Bahuguna, V.K. and Negi, J.D.S. 1988. Survey of shrubs
for hastening the process of reclamation of ecologically vulnerable areas
of Central Himalayas. Indian Forester, 114 (5), 243-250.
6. Maithani, G.P., Bahuguna, V.K. and Tapliyal, R.C. 1989. Preliminary
silvicultural techniques for planting of shrubs in the Shiwaliks and
Himalayas for rehabilitation of wastelands and degraded sites. Indian
Forester, 115 (1), 3-9.
7. Nanda, K.K.,Purohit, A.N. and Bala Adarsh. 1968. Seasonal rooting
response of stem cutting of forest plants. Indian Forester, 94, 154-162.
8. Nanda, K.K., Anand, V.K. and Kumar, P. 1970. Some investigation on
auxin effects on rooting of stem cuttings of forests plants. Indian
Forester, 96, 171-187.
9. Prasad, S.N., Sudha, K., Venkata Rao and Bhat, P.R. 1988. Autecology of
indegenous plant species appropriate for revegetation of Karnataka,
Western Ghats. Final report to Department of Ecology and Environment,
Government of Karnataka. Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.

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10. Sharma, G.K. and Raina, V. 1982. Propagation techniques of Moringa
oleifera Lam. In: Khosla, P.K.(ed.), Improvement of Forest biomass. Indian
Society of Tree Scientists, Solan, India. 175-181.

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Table 1: List of non-tree species tried for vegetative and seed
propagation techniques
I Both Vegetative and Seed propagation
Acacia concinna (DC.)
Duranta plumerii (Jacq.)
Jasminum malabaricum (Wt.)
Lantana camara (L.)
Mussaenda frondosa (L.)
Psychotria dalzelli (HK.f.)
Celastrus paniculatus (Willd.)
Calycopteris floribunda (Lam.)
Dalbergia sympatheica (Nimmo.)
Gnetum sp.
F. bengalensis
II Only Seed propagation
Aeschynomeni aspera (L.)
Bamboo sp Prosopis juliflora (DC.)
III Only Vegetative Propagation
Acacia torta (Roxb.)
Adhatoda vasica (Nees.)
Alangium lamarkii (Thw.)
Allophyllus cobbe (Bl.)
Breynia patens (Rolfe.)
Bridelia sp.
Calliandra callothyrusus
Clerodendrum infortunatum (L.)
C. innerme (Gaertn.)
Embellia sp.
Eupatorium odoratum (L.)
Glycosmis pentaphylla (Corr.)
Helicteris isora (L.)
Jasminum pubescens (Willd.)
Jatropa sp.
Leea sp.
Murraya Koenigii (Spr.)
Pandanus sp.
Paramignya monophylla (Wt.)
Strobilanthus barabatus (Nees.)
Toddalia sp.
Uvaria sp.
Ventaligo sp.
Vitex nigundo (L.)
Wagatea spicata (Dalz.)
Wendlandia notoniana (Wall.)
Ziziphus oenoplia (Mill.)
Ziziphus rugosa (Lam.)
Elaegnus conferta (Roxb.)
Piper sp.
Connaris sp.
Aralia sp.
Fagraea obvovata (Wall.)
Ficus sp.
F. infectoria (Roxb.)

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Table 2: Seed germination response of species under control.
Species with
>75%
Germination
Species with
50-75%
Germination
Species with 25-50%
germination Species with <25%
germination
(excluding 0%
germination)
Jasminum
malabaricum -NIL- Acacia concinna
Aeshynomene aspera
Prosopis juliflora
Bamboo sp.
Dalbergia
sympathetica

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Table 3: Performance of non-tree species under different seed
treatments
Species with
>75%
germination
Species with 50-
75%
Germination
Species with 25-
50%
germination
Species with
<25%
germination
(excluding 0%
germination)
Hot water treatment
Acacia concinna Nil Prosopis juliflora Bamboo sp.
Jasminum
malabaricum
Acidification
Prosopis juliflora Bamboo sp. Acacia concinna
Aeschynomene
aspera
Nil
Scarification
Acacia coccinia Prosopis juliflora Aeschynomene
aspera Jasminum
malabaricum
Mechanical injury
Jasminum
Malabaricum
Prosopis juliflora
Nil Acacia concinna Aeschynomene
aspera
Oven drying
Nil Bamboo sp. Acacia concinna
Aeschynomene
aspera
Prosopis juliflora
Nil
Wet packing
Jasminum
Malabaricum Prosopis juliflora Acacia cocinna
Bamboo so. Aescynomene
aspera

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Table 4: Time taken for germination of seeds in control and in various treatments
Species Control Hot water Acidification Scarification Mechanical
injury Oven
drying Wet packing
%
Days %
Days % Days % Days % Days % Days % Days
Acacia concinna 38 45 77 30 70 30 97 15 27 20 26 20 27 40
Aeschynomene aspera 32 35 - - 24 40 44 35 23 25 - - 44 25
Bamboo sp. 3 15 19 35 56 20 53 30 61 15 65 15 52 50
Dalbergia sympathetica 10 75 - - - - - - - - 1 10 5 40
Jasminum malabaricum 76 45 2 51 - - 21 50 82 35 - - 80 50
Prosopis juliflora 35 18 47 15 76 20 64 20 92 10 49 25 53 65

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Table 5: Rooting response of non-tree species under vegetative
propagation trial
>75% cuttings
rooted
50-75% cuttings
rooted 25-50% cuttings
rooted 1-
25% cuttings
rooted
Clerodendrum
innerme
Duranta plumerji
Eupatorium
odoratum
Lantana camera
Uvaria sp.
Vitex negundo
Aralia sp.
Jatropa sp.
Psychotria
dalzellii
Adatoda vasica
Bryenia patens
Calliandra
callothyrusus
Clerodendrum
infortunatum
Dalbergia
sympathetica
Elaegnus conferta
Ficus benghalensis
Helictris isora
Jasminum pubescens
Leea sp.
Murraya koenigii
Alangium lamarkii
Celastus
paniculatus
Connaris Sp.
Fragaria zeylanica
Ficus sp.
Jasminum
malabaricum
Mussaenda
frondosa
Pandanus sp.
Piper sp.
Wendenlandia
notoniana
Ziziphus oenoplia