Studies on growth attributes of Casuarina species in Cauvery delta zone of Tamil Nadu Vijayabhama M*, Baranidharan K, Ravikumar R, Divya K Forest College and Research Institute, TNAU, Mettupalayam, 641301, Tamil Nadu, India *Email for correspondence: vijayabhamam@gmail.com
Online published on 21 February, 2022. Abstract Casuarina is one of the potential fast growing tree crops that grows largely in six districts of Cauvery delta zone (CDZ) of Tamil Nadu. In the present study, growth attribute pattern of Casuarina species was assessed in CDZ of Tamil Nadu. In CDZ, the growth attributes like tree height and diameter (6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36 and 42 months after planting) with respect to varieties (Casuarina and its hybrid), spacing and districts were taken for the experiment. Split-split plot design was applied for analyzing the growth data for comparison of different parameters. Significant impact of factors like variety and spacing was found on the growth attributes of Casuarina hybrid 36 months after planting (MAP). Hence if farmers wanted to make harvesting at this stage, the 1.5 m spacing with Casuarina hybrid variety would be beneficial to them. The results concluded that 36-42 MAP was the right time for harvesting to get maximum benefits. Significant interaction of district vs variety vs spacing was found till 36 MAP for diameter and height. Significantly higher above ground biomass was recorded by Casuarina hybrid under spacing 1.5 m in Villupuram district (44.55 kg) which was followed by Casuarina hybrid under in Cuddalore district under the same spacing (40.55 kg). Top Keywords Casuarina, Variety, Spacing, Growth parameters. Top |