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ThesisItem Open Access Evaluation of Yield and Biochemical Screening of Lavender under Apple Based Agroforestry System(SKUAST Kashmir, 2023) Talib Nazir; Megna RashidThe present investigation entitled “Evaluation of Yield and Biochemical Screening of Lavender under Apple Based Agroforestry System” was conducted in the experimental field of Silviculture and Agroforestry Division, Faculty of Forestry, Benehama, Ganderbal during the year 2021-2023. The investigations were conducted in different treatments (spacings) T2 (5.2 m × 5.2 m), T3 (2 m × 3 m), T4, (1.5 m × 3 m), T5 (2.5 m × 3 m), T6 (1 m × 3 m), T7 ( 1 m × 2m) and T8 (1 m × 1 m) to assess morphological and phenological characteristics of apple and lavender, yield of apple, biomass and phytochemical screening of lavender. The results revealed that the tree height, collar diameter and number of branches/plant of apple trees were significantly influenced by different treatments. The treatment, T2 (5.2 m×5.2 m) recorded highest value of tree height (4.23 m) and collar diameter (35.30 cm), whereas minimum values of tree height (8.20 m) was registered under T8 (1 m × 1 m).The data also reveals that the number of spikes per plant (321), number of flowers per spike (56.33) and number of flowers per plant (18081.93) vary significantly for agroforestry treatments as compared to sole cropping treatment T1. In apple bud initiation started in March 20th and peak flowering ended upto 7th April, whereas duration of flowering (days) and peak flowering duration (days) in apple tree ranges from 5-11 days. Similarly in case of lavender, bud initiation started from 29th April and continued till 5th May in different treatments of Agroforestry system. Commencement of flowering started from 3rd May to 8th May. Flowering cessation and peak flowering ranges from (25th to 31st May and 12th to 24th May) respectively. Whereas, duration of flowering (days) and peak flowering period (days) ranges from 5 to 24 days. The highest fresh flower biomass (356.40 kg/ha) and least fresh flower biomass (292.09 kg/ha) was obtained in T1 (control) and T8 (1 m × 1 m) treatments respectively. Maximum fruit biomass (5.70 t/ha) was recorded for T8 (1 m × 1 m) and lowest (0.21t/ha) for T2 (5.2 m × 5.2 m). The maximum oil content 1.40 % was obtained from T1 (control) whereas, comparatively the least value (1.25%) was obtained from samples of T7 (1 m × 2m) and T8 (1 m × 1 m). The essential oil consisting of twenty compounds and was recorded with highest concentration of chemical constituents viz., Linalool (37.92%), Eucalyptol (19.72%), Alpha.-Terpineol (5.37%) and Linalyl acetate (14.93%) in T1 ( 1 m × 2m) while as minimum (19 compounds) was registered by T8 ( 1 m × 1 m). T1 (control) registered the maximum total phenolic content (32.29± 1.76 mg TAE/g DW), whereas the minimum total phenolic content (19.56± 0.97 mg TAE/g DW) was shown by T8 (1 m × 1 m). Similarly T1 registered the maximum total flavanoid content (25.87±1.07µg QE/g DW) whereas the minimum total flavanoid content (12.45± 0.94µg QE/g DW) was shown by T8. The strongest antioxidant activity 67.22% of the tested samples was shown by T1 (control) followed by T2 with the value of 58.31%, whereas the weakest activity was exhibited by T8 (1 m × 1 m) (38.63%).ThesisItem Open Access Assessing City Biodiversity Index and Ecosystem Services for Urban Climate Resilience of Leh City (Ladakh)(SKUAST Kashmir, 2023) Tajamul Hussain; Shah, Murtaza MushtaqClimate change and urban disaster risk are the two biggest challenges in Leh city today, as it faces consequences of unpredicted population growth, urbanization and economic development and green house emissions. Rapid urbanization increasingly affects small town adversely in Himalayan mountain regions, which are mainly vulnerable to socioecological challenges like increasing risk of natural disaster and natural resource depletion. The present study was conducted for providing the information about the current issues of a natural or socio-economic system of Leh city, along with the drivers of such issues. Our study is based on Climate Disaster Resilience Index (CDRI) that evaluates the current level of climate disaster resilience of the city and its 21 municipal wards and City Biodiversity Index (CBI) that monitor and evaluates the city’s performance and progress related to conserving and enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services. The present study assesses the Climate Disaster Resilience Index (CDRI) and City Biodiversity Index by using the Systematic Sampling Belt-transaction Method and also included both qualitative and quantitative methods (Ray and Mondol, 2004) where data has been collected by using both primary field survey and secondary sources. The result of the study revealed that Leh city has a CDRI score of 3.3, with social dimension having the highest score of 4.1, within which BPL households having the highest score of 5 out of 5. The highest resilience (05) was shown by access to electricity, BPL households, BPL income, good governance, intensity of hazards and urban salinity, while the lowest (01-02) was attributed to access to sanitation and solid waste, population density, availability of finance facility, mainstreaming of DDR and CCA and access to urban green space. Among wards Shenam 2 has the highest resilience, 12 showed medium resilience, with the highest resilience being 3.5/5, and the lowest being 2.8/5. Skara 2 had an average lower economy resilience score than the other studied wards, with comparatively little new development and least commercial activities. With an expected large migrant population and growing tourism sector, it is expected to be the least resilient system in the city in the coming years. The Leh city scored a total of 38 out of 92 for the 23 indicators, within which 3 indicators scores highest 4 out of 4. The present CDRI approach not only showed the potential of the different categories of resilience at the city scale, it also clarified the role of in-depth ward-based analyses, which are useful practically in identifying the needs of a specific area for taking proper action measures during decision making and policy formulation. The city scores based on CBI reveals the lack in biodiversity protection and related programs for the city. Based on this data, the local biodiversity committee would be able to identify the areas they should work upon and can motivate and provide incentives to the private companies to include those areas in forms of projects or programs in their CSR activities. Connectivity measures, change in number of animal species and proportion of protected natural areas should be given significant attention to improve native biodiversity. Indicators included in "Governance and Management" reach to a good scores, except for those referring to the number of biodiversity projects/year. Urbanization, population growth and uncontrolled tourism adversely affected the biodiversity and its related services in the city. The index application showed that the city was poorly evaluated in most of the indicators, particularly in ecosystem services provided by the biodiversity. The number of Outreach or Public Awareness need to be improved in the governance part with the help of NGO′s, intergovernmental and institutions. To improve city’s resilience and biodiversity it is recommended that city needs to strengthen its community preparedness and also look into developing native tree green belts along roadsides, avenues, parks and on priority, establish organised green spaces. This study will enable the development of strategies to address the identified system issues of Leh city.ThesisItem Open Access Conservation prioritization of plant communities and habitats in Urban Green Spaces of Srinagar city(2023) Salma Farooq; Gatoo, Aasif AliThe present investigation entitled "Conservation prioritization of plant communities and habitats in Urban Green Spaces of Srinagar city" was carried out, during the year (2022-2023). The study was concentrated along the altitudinal gradients (1585-1705). The plant community composition and other floristic diversity characteristics of the vegetation were studied at different sites. The vegetation analysis was carried out by stratified random sampling. Quadrats of 20 x 20m, 5 x 5m and 1 x 1m for trees, shrubs and herbs respectively were laid at different sites. A total of 101 plant species belonging to 46 families were recorded in the study area out of which 37 were tree species, 11 shrub species and 53 herb species. The maximum number of species were belonging to Asteraceae family (13), followed by Rosaceac and salicaceae (8), leguminosae (5), Apocynaceae, Cupressaceae and Lamiaceae (4), Iridaceae, Magnoliaceae and Plantaginaceae (3), Cannabaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Malvaceae, Moraceae, Pinaceae, Platanaceae, Polygonaceae and Solanaceae (2), Amaryllidaceae, Apiaceae, Arecaceae, Asparagaceae, Brassicaceae, Cannaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Fagaceae, Garryaceae, Ginkgoaceae, Hydrangeaceae, Juglandaceae, Mimosaceae, Oleaceae, Onagraceae, Oxalidaceae, Paeoniaceae, Plantaceae, Polemoniaceae, Punicaceae, Sapindaceae, Simaroubaceae, Ulmaceae, Urticaceae, Verbenaceae, Viburnaceae and Violaceae (1). At the studied location, Platanus orientalis L., Cedrus deodara G. Don, and Cupressus torulosa D. Don was found at all four locations, among shrubs Hydrangea marophylla Thunb. and Nerium oleander L. were the most dominant species and represented most of the sites and in case of herbs Cyanodon dactylon Pers., Trifolium pretense L., Trifolium repens L. and Urtica dioica L. represented all the locations, followed by Plantago lanceolata L. and Polygonum hydropiper L. these species represented most of the locations. The Raunkiaer biological spectrum showed that therophytes (42%) were the dominant life-form followed by megaphanerophytes (19%), mesophanerophyte (10%), hemicryptophyte and geophytes (8% each), Phanerophyte and nanophanerophyte (5% each) and microphanerophyte (4%). Due to habitat degradation and over exploitation, the loss of biodiversity has necessitated the conservation prioritization of communities, habitats for conservation. The prioritization of communities and habitats through quantitative and qualitative assessment of vegetation is prerequisite for starting any conservation and management programme. Therefore, an attempt has been made to; (i) Identify the communities and habitats; (ii) evaluate them for species richness, native, endemic, economically important and threatened species; (iii) prioritize communities and habitats for conservation. Six (06) plant communities and six (06) habitats distributed were recorded. The communities and habitats have been evaluated for the species richness, native, endemic, economically important and threatened species. Based on these attributes communities and habitats have been prioritized. Among communities Platanus orientalis communities showed highest CPI value (46) followed by Platanus orientalis-Cedrus deodara (42), these communities had the most priority for conservation and in case of habitats Riverine showed highest CPI value (40). Regular monitoring of the prioritized communities and habitats is necessary. Also, mass scale propagation of native, endemic, economically important and threatened species and their plantation in the urban green spaces of Srinagar city have been suggested.ThesisItem Open Access Urban green space mapping using on screen digitization and machine learning approach in district Srinagar of J&K(SKUAST Kashmir, 2023) Sadaf Fayaz; Wani, Akhlaq AminUrbanization of district Srinagar is taking place at an alarming rate. Urban sprawl is depleting the natural resources in an unplanned manner. In the absence of mapping such changes in land use land cover go unnoticed unless mapping using an identified method. LULC studies play a significant role in natural resource management and urban landscape planning for effective decision making. Generating LULC map usually requires a lot of time and effort besides the challenge of obtaining a map with fair degree of accuracy. In view of its importance, the present study was conducted to compare the LULC classification performance using on-screen digitization and different machine learning algorithms in district Srinagar of J&K. The different classifiers used were K-means algorithm, Artificial neural network (ANN), Support vector machine (SVM), Random forest (RF) and Decision tree (DT). The accuracy of LULC map generated was assessed through ground truth points. All machine learning algorithms when compared to on-screen digitization revealed that K-means algorithm showed least over all accuracy (64.51%) among all other machine learning algorithms in comparison to the on-screen digitization which showed highest overall accuracy (99.24%). The overall accuracy of classification was estimated to be 96.50% for Support Vector machine (SVM) algorithm, 95.86% for Random Forest algorithm, 95.33% for Decision Tree (DT) algorithm and 88.87% for Artifical Neural Network (ANN) algorithm with an overall Kappa of 95.96%, 95.17%, 94.5% and 87.01% respectively. F-score obtained for different LULC classes using different classifiers was found to vary from each other. Apart from K-means, all the classifiers had F-score ranging between 80% to 100% for all classes which is due to high precision (Users accuracy) and recall (Producers accuracy) with the exception using ANN in classifying wastelands, the F-score of 58.73% was obtained. Studies conducted revealed that class 1 i.e. agriculture and grassland showed the F-score of 94.02% i.e. highest for this class using SVM among all other classifiers, followed by DT and RF with F-Score of 93.47% and 93.84% respectively. The vegetation was found to be best mapped using Decision tree algorithm with an F-score of 99.41%. The on-screen digitization proved to be highly efficient than other methods of classification due to combined effect of data interpretation key, human experience complimented by ground truthing and google earth verification. On the other side, machine learning classifiers such as SVM and RF and DT were also found to be closely accurate generating results quickly with minimal inputs.ThesisItem Open Access Assessment of status, distribution, habitat use and feeding habit of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) and its impact on vegetation in Dachigam National Park(SKUAST Kashmir, 2023) Ruhee Jon; Khursheed AhmadThe present investigation entitled, “Assessment of status, distribution, habitat use and feeding habit of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) and its impact on vegetation in Dachigam National Park” was conducted in Dachigam National Park Jammu and Kashmir, India from 2021-2022. Data was recorded on direct sightings and indirect evidences during regular intensive surveys along eight (08) transects laid down in four habitat types in an intensive study area during winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Overall, 320 sampling plots were scanned in all four different seasons. Plant community composition were studied in four fixed habitats of the study area. Quadrants of 10 m×10 m and 5 m×5 m for trees and shrubs respectively were laid at all the four habitats. Line intercept method was adopted to estimate the ground cover percentage. A total of nine (09) animal species representing eight (08) families were recorded from the study area. Wild boar was more encountered in autumn season with mean encounter rate of 0.103 individuals/Km followed by encountered rate of 0.099 individuals/Km and 0.081 individuals/Km in winter and spring. Among all habitats riverine was most frequently used habitat in all seasons with an encounter rate of 0.15 individuals/Km followed by mixed woodland (0.106 individuals/Km). The plant community composition revealed a total of forty (40) species belonging to nineteen (19) families from the study area, out of which twenty-one (24) were tree species and sixteen (16) shrub species. Out of the total families recorded, Rosaceae was the largest family with thirteen (13) species followed by Fabaceae, Salicaceae and Pineceae with three (03) species each. Fagaceae, Ulmaceae, and Sapindaceae had two (2) species each. Moraceae, Platanaceae, Juglandaceae, Simaroubaceae, Anacardeceae, Taxaceae, Berberidaceae, Caprifolaceae, Hsmamelidaceae, Adoxaceae, Oleaceae and Scrophulariaceae was represented by one (1) species each. The riverine habitat was dominant with twenty -one (21) tree species and sixteen (16) shrub species. Ground cover shows significant differences between different seasons and habitat types. The riverine habitat shows maximum diversity among all habitats. The study revealed that the diet of Wild boar was mainly comprised of plant matter (about 85-90%) with small percentage of animal matter (10-15%) in all four different seasons i.e., (spring, summer, fall and winter). In spring and summer, grasses and herbs were the most frequently consumed food items, while in autumn and winter seeds made the major proportion of the diet of wild boar. The most preferred grass species in all the four seasons was cynodon dactylon (91.30%, 93.33%, 52.42%, and 65.00%). Acorns were frequently consumed during autumn (91.42%) and winter (50%). Other species found in the diet of wild boar were; Imperata brevifolia, Conium maculatum, Dryopteris intermedia, Rumex dentatus, Poa annua, Trifolium spp, Anthraxon prinodes, Strobilanthes capitata, rubus spp, Prunus spp. Avena fatua (43.47%) and Oryza sativa (66.66%) were also consumed by wild boar during spring and summer seasons respectively. The results also showed the consumption of animal matter (Insects and Hairs). The consumption of insects was more in spring (26.08%) and summer (26.66%). Wild boar has significant impact on vegetation. Maximum impact (6.32%, 5.17%, 6.50%, and 6.80%) was recorded in riverine habitat followed by mixed woodland (5.13%, 4.66%, 4.94%, and 5.32%) and grassland (4.31%, 4.44%, 4.66%, and 4.79%) and no disturbance was seen in mixed coniferous in all four different seasons i.e. (winter, spring, summer and winter).ThesisItem Open Access Fruit characteristics and variability in half-sib progeny of Morus alba L.(SKUAST Kashmir, 2023) Rahila Muzafar; Rather, Mohamad MaqboolThe present investigation entitled ““Fruit characteristics and variability in half-sib progeny of Morus alba L.” was carried out in the Division of Forest Biology and Tree Improvement, Faculty of Forestry, Benihama, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, J&K during the year 2021-2022. With an aim to investigate the fruit characteristics and seed source variation in Morus alba L.; fruits were collected from the trees located at ten selected sites in five districts of Kashmir valley. To achieve this, two sites representing two sources from each of the five districts viz., Anantnag, Pulwama, Ganderbal, Kulgam and Shopian were selected subjected to the existence of naturally growing of Morus alba L. At each selected site, two apparently looking healthy trees of Morus alba L. were identified and tagged properly. The selected trees showed considerable phenotypic and morphological variability in terms of their height, DBH, crown spread, average number of bunches in each bearing branch and average number of berries in each bunch. Significant variation was observed in fruit parameters (fruit length, fruit width, stalk length, fruit weight, fruit colour, shape and taste), seed germination parameters (germination percent, mean daily germination, peak value, germination energy and germination value) and seedling growth parameters (seedling height, collar diameter, internodal length, leaf area, root length, number of branches, number of leaves, plant percent, survival percentage, fresh root and shoot weight, dry root and shoot weight, root shoot ratio, shoot vigor index, root vigor index , sturdiness quotient and quality index ). Results revealed that fruits seeds collected from Khoverpora-Anantnag recorded the maximum (6.60) average number of bunches in each bearing branch and maximum(3.65) average number of berries in each bunch, fruit length (3.98cm), fruit width (2.69cm), stalk length (4.58cm) and fruit weight (9.37g). Seeds from Khoverpora-Anantnag recorded highest values for germination percentage (94%), mean daily germination (4.43), peak value (11.60), germination energy (85.50), germination value (51.45) and seed weight (2.52 g). The nursery evaluation of the seed sources under study revealed that maximum values of seedling height (19.61cm), collar diameter (3.48cm), inter nodal length (6.34cm), total leaf area per plant(46.75cm2), root length(31.70cm), number of branches (4.45), number of leaves (21.50), plant percent (99.50%), survival percentage (99%), fresh root weight(9.22), fresh shoot weight(13.33), dry root weight(6.10), dry shoot weight(8.18),shoot vigor index (135.25), root vigor index (403.75), sturdiness quotient(9.10) and quality index (2.04) were recorded in Khoverpora-Anantnag. However, the highest root shoot ratio of 0.76 was recorded in Qaimoh-Kulgam source. The phenotypic and genotypic variance, their coefficient of variability and narrow sense heritability also showed a sizeable variability. This offers a breeder ample scope to undertake screening and selection of seed sources for the desired traits. Further the values of PCV for all the characters were higher than the corresponding GCV thus indicating environmental influence on the traits. Highest PCV was recorded for number of branches per plant (52.37) followed by number of leaves per plant (16.14) respectively. Similarly, the highest GCV was recorded for number of branches per plant (23.95) followed by number of leaves per plant (11.45) respectively. However, seedling height exhibited the lowest PCV (7.32) and the lowest GCV (2.39) respectively. This clearly shows that minute differences existed between PCV and the corresponding GCV showing these characters are under genetic control. Heritability in narrow sense was almost high for all the characters and was maximum for leaf area per plant (0.68) followed by number of leaves per plant (0.50). Seedling height exhibited the lowest heritability (0.11) indicating more genetic control in these characters. With respect to correlation, highly significant and positive correlation was observed for majority of seed traits. Significant positive correlation exists between fruit length and fruit width, fruit length and stalk length, fruit length and fruit weight. Seed germination percent exhibited significant positive correlation with mean daily germination, peak value, germination energy, germination value and seed weight. Similarly, survival percentage exhibited significant positive correlation with root weight (fresh), root weight (dry), shoot weight (fresh), shoot weight (dry), root shoot ratio, shoot vigour index, root vigour index, sturdiness quotient, quality index and plant percent, thus indicating that these traits are closely associated. Therefore, these characters must be given proper emphasis during selection programme. The study concludes that all the sources of Morus alba L. showed significant difference in terms of fruit as well as seed and seedling growth characters which indicates that there is an excellent scope for improvement of this species in future. In view of the outstanding performance exhibited by the S2 (Khoverpora) of Anantnag district source for various fruit parameters as well as seed and seedling growth characteristics, it is advisable to collect seeds from the mother trees of Morus alba L. from this particular source for multilplication and improvement programmes.ThesisItem Open Access Population Assessment and Phytochemical Characterization of Berberis aristata DC. in Kashmir Himalayas(SKUAST Kashmir, 2023) Nisha Tariq; Malik, A. R.The present investigation entitled “Population assessment and phytochemical characterization of Berberis aristata DC. in Kashmir Himalayas” was conducted at three different altitudinal ranges along two aspects of Sindh forest range of district Ganderbal during 2021-2022. In experiment-I, the surveys were conducted in Sindh Forest Range of Ganderbal district (1587 to 5248m A.M.S.L). In order to analyse the population and regeneration status of Berberis aristata DC. 12 sampling plots of (20m×20m), 96 sub-plots of 5m × 5m and 864 sub-sub plots of 1m×1m were laid randomly along river Sindh banks on its both aspects (north and south) at 3 different elevations viz., E1-1500-2000m AMSL, E2-2000-2500m AMSL and E3- above 2500m AMSL. It was revealed that the maximum value of regeneration percent (16.7%) was recorded at mid-altitude (2000-2500m AMSL). As far as regeneration status was concerned, northern aspect showed fair regeneration up to elevation of 2500m A.M.S.L and southern aspect was facing the problem of regeneration. Among different aspects, the mean maximum density (12.9 m2), frequency (14.8%) and basal area (3.51 m2) was exhibited on southern aspect at mid-altitude. However, density, frequency and basal area showed an increasing trend till mid-altitude and then decreased with further increase in elevation. In another experiment, the fresh root, stem bark and leaves of Berberis aristata DC. were collected from Sindh Forest Range Ganderbal during autumn season (October-December).The dried materials were grounded into a powder, and then stored in airtight containers for phytochemical analysis. It was observed that the highest percentage of ash was found in leaves (2.19%), followed by the shoot (2.17%) and the root (2.11%). The moisture content of Berberis aristata decreased in the pattern of leaves > bark > roots. The maximum yield of extract for root, stem bark and leaves was found in methanol as compared to other solvents. The results also revealed that the leaf extract produced a higher yield than the root and stem bark extracts. Furthermore, the qualitative analysis of Berberis aristata showed the presence of carbohydrates, protiens, alkaloids, tannin, saponin, flavonoids, phytosterol, terpenoidsand polyphenols whereas, phytosterol was found absent in leaves. The important phytochemicals viz., flavonoids, phenols, alkaloids, tannins and saponins were determined from the root, stem bark and leaves of Berberis aristata. The saponins (8.88 mg/l) were found to be the most abundant followed by alkaloids (2.07 mg/l) and tannins (1.64 mg/l). While, phenols and flavonoids were present in trace amounts. Results also showed that all parts (leaves, stem bark and root) of Berberis aristata contained alkaloids. The alkaloid content in roots (2.18 mg/l) was comparatively greater than the stem bark (1.15 mg/l) and leaves (1.48 mg/l).ThesisItem Open Access Variability in half sib progenies of Ulmus villosa Brandis(SKUAST Kashmir, 2023) Mubariz Mehak; Mir, Ashfaq AhmadWith an aim to investigate the source variation in Ulmus villosa Brandis, seeds were collected from the trees located at fifteen randomly selected sites in five districts of Kashmir. From each site one tree of approximately uniform age was selected on the basis of check tree method. The selected trees showed considerable phenotypic and morphological variability in terms of their height, diameter breast height, clear bole, crown spread, average number of samara cluster per branch and average number of samara per cluster. Significant seed source variation was observed in seed morphology (size, weight and average number of filled and empty seeds) seed germination parameters (germination percent, mean daily germination, peak value, germination energy and germination value) and seedling growth parameters (seedling height, collar diameter, internodal length, leaf area, root length, shoot and root vigor index, plant percent, survival percentage and seedling biomass). Results revealed that while the seeds collected from Bijbehara-Anantnag recorded highest mean value for length (12.91mm), seed width (4.72mm), seed weight (5.62g) as well as in average number of filled seeds (7.50). The mean highest number of empty seeds per cluster was depicted from the site Anchidora-Anantnag (8.50). Seeds from Bijbehara-Anantnag recorded highest values for germination percentage (84.30%), mean daily germination (3.01), peak value (3.78), germination energy (56.64), germination value (11.37), shoot vigor index (745.01) and root vigor index (2409.17). The nursery evaluation of the seed sources under study revealed that maximum values of seedling height (32.20cm), collar diameter (10.20cm), total leaf area per plant(20.10cm2), root length(12.01 cm), number of branches (25.00), number of leaves (48.66), plant percent (85.47%) and survival percentage (81.32%) was recorded in Bijbehara-Anantnag. However, internodal length (4.20cm) and root shoot ratio (0.68) were highest in Mattan-Anantnag and Shalimar-Srinagar respectively. Sturdiness quotient (4.95) and Dickson’s quality index (0.94) was maximum in Bijbehara-Anantnag. In case of biomass, maximum value of fresh shoot weight (22.42g) and dry shoot weight (11.46g) and fresh root weight (9.86g) and dry root weight (5.50g) were found in Bijbehara-Anantnag. The phenotypic and genotypic variance, their coefficient and narrow sense heritability also showed a sizeable variability. This offers a breeder ample scope to undertake screening and selection of seed sources for the desired traits. Further the relative magnitude of phenotypic coefficients of variation was higher than genotypic coefficients of variation for all the characters under study indicating environmental influence on the traits. Highest phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variance was depicted by germination value 61.29 and 56.06 respectively. With respect to seedling growth and biomass highest phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation was depicted by root shoot ratio 64.24 and 60.11 respectively. The lowest value phenotypic and genotypic variance was exhibited by seed length 7.77 and 6.21 respectively. Survival percentage depicted lowest value of phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation 6.29 and 4.62 respectively. Heritability in narrow sense was almost high for all the characters with maximum value for seed weight and average number of filled seeds 77.1%. Germination energy exhibited lowest heritability 61%. Seedling height, fresh shoot weight and leaf area per plant exhibited highest heritability 81% while least heritability was exhibited by sturdiness quotient 62%. Similarly genetic advance was recorded maximum in seed germination percentage (16.03) followed by root vigor index (26.71), shoot vigor index (15.89) and germination energy (9.91). Minimum value of genetic advance was recorded in seed width (1.17) and Dickson’s quality index (1.5). Mean daily germination and dry root weight depicted highest values of genetic gain 65.83 and 75.67 respectively, however lowest values of genetic gain 15.50 and 12.92 were recorded in seed length and survival percentage respectively. The high heritability coupled with moderate value of genetic gain for the above traits denotes that these traits are more under genetic control and good amount of heritable additive genetic component can be exploited for improvement of this species. Correlation study among different traits studied during the investigation revealed that the majority of seed traits (seed length, seed width, seed weight) were positively correlated with corresponding germination traits (germination percentage, germination energy, germination value, peak value, mean daily germination) and seedling growth traits (seedling height, collar diameter, number of leaves per plant, number of branches per plant, root length, survival, plant percent, shoot and root vigor index). Highly significant positive correlation was also found for seedling growth traits with their biomass. Therefore, these characters must be given proper emphasis during selection programme. The rest of the combinations showed negative or no correlation. The study concluded that all the sources of Ulmus villosa Brandis varied significantly in terms of their seed, seedling growth as well as biomass parameters; which advocates its good scope for improvement in future. Among all the other seed sources studied, Bijbehara-Anantnag seed source is comparatively better and can be used to collect germplasm for multiplication and out planting.ThesisItem Open Access Ethnobotanical Study of Wild Edible Plant Species in South Kashmir(SKUAST Kashmir, 2023) Mehvish Mushtaq; Amerjeet SinghThe ethnobotanical study of wild edible plant species (WEPs) was conducted during 2021-2022 within four districts of Southern Kashmir, Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian.The study area’s geographic coordinates are 33.5˚ and 75.1˚, 33.8˚ and 75˚, 33.6˚ and 75˚, 33.7˚ and 74.9˚ respectively. The region is located in India’s north-western agro-climatic zone and is on average 1650 meters (5410 feet) above mean sea level. The aim of this study was to identify plant species that provide wild edible products and to identify plant part used. In addition the biotic pressure on mostly consumed wild edible plant species (WEPs) was also examined. Information was gathered from 560 informants from 64 villages in different localities. 96 species, belonging to 44 families and 77 genera were reported from the study.The study revealed that maximum of 14 species belong to family Rosaceae followed by Asteraceae with 8 species, Lamiaceae 7 species, Polygonaceae 6 species, Apiaceae and Amaranthaceae both with 5 species. These are well distributed in different life forms 58 herbs (60%), 19 trees (20%), 15 shrubs (16%) and 4(4%) fungus. The data revealed that the maximum of 44 species which constitute 39.8% of the total, were found to be used as leafy greens. The fruits constitute 30.5 % with 33 species followed by roots (13 species), seeds (8 species), the entire plant (7 species), flowers (6 species) and stem (4 species) which made 12%, 7.4%, 6.4%, 5.5% and 3.7% respectively. The results of CI value demonstrate that most plant species with high CI values were consumed as food. The CI of the species that were identified from various locations showed significant variances. Rumex acetosa came in first with a mCI of 0.95 while Juglans regia came in second with a mCI of 0.94. According to the cultural importance of families Malvaceae with 2 species was the most important family with mCIF (0.795). Our findings demonstrate that wild food plants are in grave danger. This is mainly due to over harvesting, excessive grazing, uncontrolled fires, climate change, the collection of fuel wood, the development of agricultural land and insecticides. Each element contributed differently depending upon the location. The data revealed that over harvesting and climate change ranked Ist and second, over grazing and agricultural expansion ranked third and fourth, uncontrolled fire and fuel wood collection both ranked fifth and insecticides ranked sixth.
