V. SivajiAnil Kumar Mishra2024-07-132024-07-132001https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810211911Coal combustion for electricity generation inevitably produces large amount of coal residue known as Flyash. Enormous accumulation of flyash is posing a problem of waste disposal. Thus it becomes obligatory to the forestry community to manage this waste produce beneficially and make the ecosystem environment friendly. Since flyash contains many nutrient elements essential for plant growth, its use as a fertilizer supplement in Agriculture and Forestry has been suggested. The present investigations were carried out to study the effect of flyash on germination and growth of some tree species and also to study their comparative growth performance in the flyash amended soils. Three commonly growing tree species in Chotanagpur zone viz., Dalbergia sissoo (Sissoo) S,, Leucaena leucocephala (Subabul) S, and Melia azedarach (Bakain) S, were chosen. Five treatments of flyash amended. soils viz., 100 per cent soil (m,), 75 per cent soil + 25 per cent flyash (m). 50 per cent soil + 50 per cent flyash (m), 25 per cent soil + 75 per cent flyash (m) and 100 per cent flyash (mg) were taken to study their effect on the germination and growth of above seedlings. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design with three replications in the campus of Faculty of Forestry. The investigations were carried out to study the time taken for completion of germination, germination percentage, shoot length, collar diameter, root length, fresh weight and dry weight of root, stem and leaves, leaf number, leaf area and nodule number of the seedlings. Laboratory experiments were conducted to estimate the trace metals viz., Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu in different plant parts of seedlings. Moisture content and water holding capacity of soils were estimated before and after the experiments. Results of the present investigations showed that the flyash increased the time taken for completion of germination with increased proportion of flyash in all three species. The germination percentage increased upto 25 per cent flyash but subsequently decreased in 50 per cent to 100 per cent flyash amendment. The growth of seedlings varied in different parameters in different species depending upon the flyash proportion. Increase in growth was observed in all parameters in 25 per cent flyash amended soils but in several parameters, it was reduced in soils with high proportion of flyash, though in many cases the growth was superior than control. Shoot length increased upto 50 per cent flyash addition in Dalbergia sissoo and Melia azedarach, but in Leucaena leucocephala it increased up to 100 per cent flyash.EnglishThesis