Effect of nitrogen application on growth, biomass and quality of Salix alba nursery stock
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Date
2016
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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
Willows are very important tree species for the ecology and economy of countries in temperate and subtropical zones of the world. The field trials on Salix alba were conducted during 2015-16 in nursery area of Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, PAU, Ludhiana. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications, to study the effect of cutting size and nitrogen fertilizer on nursery stock of Salix alba. The data for plant height, collar diameter, number of branches, shoot biomass, root biomass, stock vigour index, sturdiness quotient and NPK level in soil and plant was recorded. Results revealed that with increasing rate of nitrogen application, a significant and progressive increase in available nitrogen was noticed in both the cutting sizes which resulted in improved nitrogen content in foliage of Salix alba. A curvilinear relationship was observed when rates of nitrogen application were regressed with total biomass yield indicating that application of 150 kg N ha-1 was adequate to get optimum yield for both the cutting sizes. This signified that Salix responded significantly to N application @ 150 kg N ha-1 and resulted in 27.66 and 76.74 per cent increase in total biomass yield of 0.50-1.50 cm and 1.51-2.50 cm cutting sizes, respectively. The growth of Salix with cutting size of 1.51-2.50 cm was found to be more superior as compared to 0.50-1.50 cm cutting size. So it is concluded that cuttings size of 1.51-2.50 cm gave better performance in all growth parameters as compared to cuttings size of 0.50-1.50 cm. Results revealed that the stock vigour index increases when nitrogen doses from 50-200 kg N/ha were applied. The impact is more noticeable from 50-150 kg N/ha rather than 150-200 kg N/ha. It can be concluded from this study that application of 150 kg N ha-1 to Salix was adequate to get optimum total biomass yield for both the cutting sizes.
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