Influence of de-oiled seed cakes on seedling performance of east Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia Roxb.)

Kumar, V. . Coll. of Forestry; Kumar, S. . Coll. of Forestry; Jhu, S.K. . Coll. of Forestry; Madathil, J.C.

Influence of de-oiled seed cakes on seedling performance of east Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia Roxb.)

2015

Kumar, V. (Kerala Agricultural Univ., Thrissur (Kerala). Coll. of Forestry) | Kumar, S. (Navsari Agricultural Univ., Navsari, Gujrat (India). Coll. of Forestry) | Jhu, S.K. (Navsari Agricultural Univ., Navsari, Gujrat (India). Coll. of Forestry) | Madathil, J.C.

Most of the tree species can be propagated through seeds; however, the seedlings require sufficient root growth and nutrient availability to attain proper size at the time of planting. The application of de-oiled seed cakes in addition to soil and sand is a common practice to improve or maintain the nutrient status of the nursery soil. The deoiled cakes were added to mixture of soil and sand in different proportions M1 (1:2), M2 (2:1) and M3 (1:1) in poly bags in such a way that the quantity of each de-oiled seed cake (neem cake, castor cake, cotton seed cake) and FYM, (nitrogen content applied per bag was 100 kg N per ha). The highest germination (28.93%), seedling height (16.33 cm), collar diameter (0.36 cm), root length (4.73 cm), number of root nodules (23.33) and leaflets per plant (47.16), root shoot ratio (0.29), fresh weight (11.30 g), biomass (5.63 g) were observed in the potting medium containing neem cake with soil and sand mixture (T2M2). The highest available N, P and K (286.49, 72.90 and 395.66 kg per ha, respectively) also was recorded in T2M2. Our study suggests that de-oiled seed cakes along with soil, sand can be used as a potential, effective, cheaper and nonpolluting organic source of nitrogen and other growth promoting substances. Further studies are required to confirm the performance of the seedlings under field conditions.

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