ASSESSMENT OF PHENOTYPIC VARIABILITY AND NUTRIENT COMPOSITION OF POPULUS DELTOIDES CLONES IN PRAYAGRAJ, INDIA

A field experiment was conducted during April-June of 2022 at the central nursery of the ICFRE-Ecorehabilitation Centre (formerly, FRCER), Prayagraj.Phenotypic and nutrient analysis among the various clones of Populus deltoids were conducted.The total number of 17 clones of Populus deltoides were undertaken in study viz.AM 41, FS 57, AM 59, FS 16, FS 32, L 89, G 48, FS 47, VHF12, FS 175, AM 44, AM 32, AM 12 and FS 31.Different phenotypic characteristics viz., plant height, number of branches, collar diameter of Poplar clones was observed at 30, 60 and 90 DAT.The data of phenotypic characteristics showed that the clone L-200-84, outperformed other clones in terms of plant height (cm), clone FS 31 was found maximum in number of branches (15.39), collar diameter (15.59 mm).Out of the 17 clones, 10 clones with better phenotypic performance were selected and their leaves were analysed for various nutrients.The assessment of data revealed that the highest nutrient content in terms of dry matter accumulation, crude protein content, ether extract, crude fibre and ash content were also highest in FS 31 (55.76 g, 11.87%, 4.68, 42.56% and 8.13 % respectively).Concurrently, the results demonstrated notable differences among the clones and underscored the significant role of soil properties in influencing clone performance.This study provides crucial insights for selecting optimal clones and optimizing soil conditions to improve productivity in agroforestry systems.