Performance of Eucalyptus clones in Trans-Ganga region of Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Present study was carried out to assess the growth and performance of Eucalyptus clones in Trans-Ganga region of district Prayagraj in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. A clonal trial was established in 2016 with 19 clones along with a control to assess their site-specific suitability. Their performances (height, girth at breast height (GBH), basal area and volume of trees/ha) were evaluated annually up to three years. Variation in height and GBH among 19 clones of Eucalyptus was noticed. The highest increment in GBH was recorded in clone P-13 (33.80 cm), followed by P-23 (33.43 cm), P-32 (33.27 cm), 526 (32.68 cm), IFGTB-4 (32.10 cm), 3018 (30.53 cm) and P-50 (29.60 cm), whereas the lowest in P-66 (22.50 cm) and control (20.38 cm). Maximum height was recorded in 3018 (12.55 m), followed by P-32 (12.29 m), P-23 (11.89 m) and P-13 (11.77 m) and minimum in clone 413 (9.99 m), 288 (9.95 m) and 2136 (9.28 m). Similarly, the basal area of P-13, P-23, P-32, 526 and IFGTB-4 was found to be encouraging. Conclusively, the clones P-32, P-13, P-23, 526, 3018, IFGTB-4 and P-50 were found promising for large scale plantation in Trans-Ganga region of Eastern Uttar Pradesh.