Effect of plantation season on growth of different genotypes of Jatropha curcas as controlled irrigation and Mycorrhizal association under semi-arid region

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Research and Development farm, Ruchi Biofuel Private Limited Maheshwer (situated between 24022o12/25// N latitude, 75035/26// E longitudes, at an elevation of 600 m above the mean sea level), to study the effect of seed source and best propagation season of Jatropha curcas, on germination and growth, which can be used in genetic improvement programme. The five provenances were selected from Madhya Pradesh (Neemuch), Rajasthan (Udaipur), Gujrat (Dahod), and Chhattisgarh (Pendra and Jagdalpur). The germination and related parameters indicate that the seedlings transplanted during rainy season gave the significantly (P=0.05) maximum value for germination percentage as comparison of those planted of winter and summer season. The seedling growth parameters indicated that the provenance of Neemuch exhibited maximum growth, in comparison to other provenance/sources in decreasing order as Dahod, Pendra, Udaipur and Jagdalpur. Authentically overall results exhibited that the seeds collected from Neemuch and Dahod perform consistently in term of germination and growth under semi arid region of Maheshwar after 3 years of plantation.