Studies on the growth and propagation of selected bamboos in Kerala, India
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Date
2024-04-30
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Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, College of Forestry, Vellanikkara
Abstract
With the increasing demand for wood and wood products, tree plantation activities are expanding at faster rate across the world. The present scenario demand planting of tree species that offer better economic returns while contributing to the ecological resilience of the agroecosystems. In this pursuit, bamboos are excellent group of plants that serve the dual purpose effectively. Bamboos are the arborescent grasses belonging to family Poaceae. India is the second richest country of bamboo genetic resources after China. Kerala is one among the major diversity centers of bamboo in the country and 22 species of bamboos under seven genera have been recorded from this region. In Kerala bamboo grows in forests and agroecosystems. The edaphic and climatic conditions of Kerala permit the cultivation of diverse species of bamboos. Though bamboos exhibit fast growth, it varies considerably with species and local conditions. However, information on the productivity of bamboo especially in the humid tropical conditions of Kerala are limited. In this backdrop a field study has been designed to evaluate the comparative growth performance of six bamboo species of high economic and ecological importance to Kerala viz. Bambusa balcooa, Bambusa tulda, Bambusa vulgaris, Dendrocalamus asper, Dendrocalamus brandisii, Dendrocalamus longispathus. The study also probed into the suitable vegetative propagation techniques for selected three bamboo species Dendrocalamus longispathus, Dendrocalamus brandisii, Bambusa balcooa. The field trial was carried out in an existing bambusetum established during 2018 located in Instructional Farm adjoining the College of Forestry campus, Vellanikkara, Kerala, India. Each of the selected six bamboo species were grown in randomly allocated blocks. There were 20 clumps per block at a spacing of 5x5 m. Periodic growth observations were made for clump height, clump circumference, culm girth, intermodal length, and number of culms. Propagation trial was carried out in the nursery separately for the three selected bamboo species viz. Bambusa balcooa, Dendrocalamus brandisii and Dendrocalamus longipathus treating their culm cuttings with various concentrations of NAA and IBA. The experiment was laid out in factorial CRD with three replications. The hormonal combinations were 0, 100, 250 and 500 ppm of both NAA and IBA which were tried separately for the three bamboo species. The hormone treated culm cuttings were planted in nursery beds and all routine observations were taken. There was considerable variation in growth and productivity among the six bamboo species under study. Bambusa vulgaris and Dendrocalamus brandisii were the toppers in terms of clump height, clump circumference and culm girth while Bambusa tulda showed relatively poor growth for these parameters. Among the species, the highest internodal length was observed for by Dendrocalamus brandisii and Dendrocalamus longispathus while Bambusa tulda recorded the shortest internodal length. Number of culms per clump was highest for Dendrocalamus asper while it was the lowest for Bambusa balcooa. Overall, among the six species under study, the promising bamboo for humid Kerala would be Bambusa vulgaris, Dendrocalamus brandisii and Dendrocalamus asper. Among the bamboos, the growth hormonal effects were highest for Dendrocalamus longispathus followed by Bambusa balcooa and the lowest for Dendrocalamus brandissi. Hormonal treated culm cuttings of Dendrocalamus longispathus showed significant improvement in plant height, leaf number, number of roots, root length and rooting percentage while the performance was poor in the untreated control. In general, IBA showed significantly better response to plant height, leaf number and rooting percentage for D. longispathus. Dendrocalamus brandissi showed poor performance for most of the growth parameters except for root weight. However, apparently better response were observed for sporting percentage and rooting percentage with IBA at 250 ppm. The response of untreated control was very poor. Bambusa balcooa showed significantly better performance for NAA for number of leaves (250 ppm), number of roots (250 ppm) and root weight (100 ppm). IBA 250 ppm showed better influence on collar girth and root length of B. balcooa non treated cuttings (control) showed very poor response to all growth parameters. Overall, the propagation study reveals that growth hormonal treatment of culm cuttings of Dendrocalamus longispathus and Bambusa balcooa give promising results for their mass multiplication in nursery conditions.
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175594