Effect of geographic sources on fruit, and seed traits of Grewia optiva from Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand and variation in seedling emergence due to different nursery growing media

The introduction of tree species in the agroforestry system is important to enhance the economy, ecology, and sustainability of the farmers. Grewia optiva is a multipurpose tree species for the attributes of the 5F (fodder, fuel, fibre, fruit, and fertilizers) in traditional agroforestry systems of Garhwal Himalaya. The farmers of the north-west Himalayan region, India, most prefer this species for growing in their agroforestry lands, as this species is highly used by the local people of the region because of its best quality fodder, fuel, and fiber. Approximate one kg fruits (100–150 g fruits per tree and subsequently from five trees for each seed source) of G. optiva were collected from ten different seed sources in Garhwal Himalaya. After seed extraction, seed morphometric traits were measured in the laboratory and analysed in RBD. Extracted seeds from each seed source were sown in the nursery under different nursery growing media in a factorial randomized block design to assess germination parameters. The morphological attributes of fruits, seeds with their variability, and seedling emergence under different germination media were statistically analyzed for analysis of variance. Fruits and seed morphological traits were significant (p < 0.01) among ten seed sources. Germination parameters were significantly varied among different seed sources and different nursery-growing media. The coefficient of variation, i.e. genetic, phenotypic, and environmental, also varied significantly for different fruit, and seed morphological characters. Seed weight was the most variable character among different fruit and seed morphological traits. The maximum emergence of seedlings was recorded in cocopeat media (71%) while the lowest was recorded in sand: soil: FYM media (38%). The overall study indicated that the Dugadda, Karnaprayag, and Paukhal seed sources were superior for fruit, seed size, and germination attributes. The cocopeat media is recommended to obtain the optimum and uniform seedling emergence of G. optiva for growing quality planting material.