Performance Evaluation and Correlation Coefficient Studies in Dek Tree

Twenty five plus trees of dek were selected from agro-climatic regions of Haryana, Punjab and Uttrakhand. The plus trees were selected on the basis of the different characters of economic importance viz. straightness, clear bole height, self-pruning ability, acute branch angle etc. Among all the plus trees the maximum tree height was observed in MC21 (17.9 m) whereas, the minimum in MC3 (6.5 m). The girth at breast height (gbh) of the selected plus trees varied from 60.9 to 180.8 cm and clear bole height was recorded highest from MC-21 closely followed by MC-13. The correlation among morphological traits of selected plus trees exhibited that clear bole height had positive and highly significant association with the tree height (r = 0.941) closely followed by crown spread (N-S direction) (r = 0.910). At the age of six months, progeny from MC-18 showed maximum shoot length (98.59 cm) followed by MC-16 and MC- 17 progenies. However, the highest root length was observed in the progenies from MC12 (20.84 cm) closely followed by MC-22 (20.46 cm) and MC13 (20.06 cm) progenies. The highest collar diameter was observed in progeny MC17 (13.73 mm) and lowest in MC5 (4.89 mm). The significant variation in growth attributes of progenies of selected plus tees at juvenile stage may be exploited for subsequent breeding programme and establishment of seed orchard for production of quality planting material of this versatile tree species.