Provenance variation study in Acacia mangium Willd. In Odisha

A good provenance is needed for production of quality planting material for better establishment of plantation and to get higher return in short period. The identification of a good provenance is very important before raising any plantation. Genetic improvement of the planting stock through evaluation trial can play a very significant role in improving production, productivity, quality of produce and profitability. However very less work is done in Odisha for the production of genetically superior planting material in Acacia mangium. So the present experiment was conducted during 2017-2018 to screen superior provenance for seed production. For this purpose observation was taken on plantation of nine different provenances of India from which seeds were collected and laid out in RBD with 4 replications each. Observations on seven different characters viz; plant height, collar diameter, crown spread, no. of branches, leaf area, leaf length and leaf width were recorded after 21 months of planting. The results revealed significant differences among the nine provenances and among the characters studied. The provenance T-3 recorded maximum height (6.60 m) and collar diameter (8.08 cm) and minimum value was recorded for T-9 i.e. 4.09 m for plant height, 3.93 cm for collar diameter. The maximum crown spread was found in T1 (2.93 m) and minimum in T6 (1.77 m) for crown spread. In case of no. of branches T-3 had lowest no. of branches. Leaf area was recorded maximum for T-1 (84.95 cm2) and minimum for T-6 (66.58 cm2). Leaf length was maximum for T-9 (19.57 cm) but T-3 recorded maximum value for leaf width (6.22 cm). There was significant positive correlation of plant height with collar diameter, crown spread, no. of branches, leaf width; Collar diameter with crown spread, no. of branches and leaf area; Crown spread with no. of primary branches and leaf width; Leaf area with leaf length and leaf width. There was significant negative correlation between height with leaf length; No. of branches with leaf area, leaf length and leaf width; and Leaf length with leaf width. T3 was found to be a superior provenance with respect to morphological characters among all the provenances studied.