STUDIES ON SITE CHARACTERISTICS, NATURAL REGENERATION STATUS AND NURSERY TECHNIQUES OF HAZELNUT (CORYLUS COLURNA L.) IN HIMACHAL PRADESH
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Date
2015
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
The present investigation “Studies on site characteristics, natural regeneration status and
nursery techniques of hazelnut (Corylus colurna L.) in Himachal Pradesh.” was carried out in the
Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India, during 2011-2013.
The study involved work on four different aspects viz; phytosociological, site and stand characteristics,
natural regeneration status and standardization of seed and nursery techniques in hazelnut. Hazelnut was
the dominant tree species in Mindal and Pattidhank forest, while Pinus wallichiana and Picea smithiana
were dominant in Gajta and Sali forest. Total tree density varied from 445 to 535 per hectare and total
basal area varied from 8783.35 cm2 to 5978.08 cm2 per hectare. Better regeneration success in Gajta and
Sali forest might be attributed to better site quality w.r.t more organic carbon, soil moisture, available
nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium. The study on seed and nursery techniques
involved two types of experiments on effect of i) five stratification periods viz., 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 days,
three stratification temperatures viz., room temperature, out-door pit, 4 ±1 0C and 0 ±1 0C and treated with
two gibberellic acid concentration viz., 0 (water only), 100 ppm GA3 and 200 ppm GA3 (CRD factorial)
prior to actual sowing in laboratory, ii) three stratification medium viz. naked, sand and cow dung at six
different temperatures and assessed seedling growth parameters under field condition (RBD factorial), to
standardize techniques for large scale production of quality stock in the species. The out-door pit
treatment, outclassed for all temperatures by registering maximum germinability viz., GP (46.28 %), GC
(74.79 %), GE (33.17 %), GS (0.64), PV (0.44), MDG (1.65), GV (0.94) and GI (0.71). The combined
effect of stratification period, temperature and gibberellic acid exhibited significantly maximum value of
GP (96.67 %), GC (99.17 %), GE (76.67 %), GS (1.70), PV (1.27), MDG (3.45) GV (4.39) and GI (1.49)
when seeds were stratified for 60 days in out-door pit and the subsequently treated with 200ppm GA3.
While, under the field condition seeds stratified in sand for three week warm (25-280 C) followed by three
week cold (30 C) were treated with 150ppm GA3 before sowing resulted in maximum germination
(74.17%), plant height (14.94 cm), root length (27.50 cm), total dry weight (1.82 g) and stock quality index
(0.53) when used for sowing. Experiment on cuttage propagation comprised of seven IBA formulation,
two pre-conditioning treatment and two cutting portion i.e. upper and basal portion, involving a RBD
factorial experiment with three replications in nursery under a shade net house. Girdling of cuttings of
lower/basal portion when treated with 0.4 % IBA in combination with 3% captan + 3% sucrose-talc
registered significantly maximum sprouting (76.67 %), rooting (41.67 %) and mean dry root weight
(430.17 mg) in the spring season
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Keywords
sowing, germinability, vegetative propagation, harvesting, stratification, nuts, developmental stages, regeneration, iba, drying, Hazelnut (Corylus colurna L.)