Assessing the Performance and Adaptability of International Provenances of Casuarina equisetifolia Grown in India

Abstract

A special concern in tree improvement and genetic testing relates to genotype x environment interaction which means that the relative performance of clones, families, provenances or species differs when they are grown in different environments. In tree improvement, superior performing genotypes in a range of environments are highly desired. Though stability analyses have widely been conducted in agricultural crops, only limited studies have been reported in tree species. An experiment through multi-location field testing was conducted at the ICFRE-Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore, India to study the stability of select international provenances of Casuarina equisetifolia L. Seedlings raised from 23 international provenances infused from CSIRO, Australia formed the basic experimental materials and multilocational provenance trials were established in five locations in India. All the provenance trials were established in Randomized Complete Block Design with five replications and with 10 tree plots. Stability analysis was performed using the data on tree height, diameter at breast height (dbh) and volume index (d2h) recorded at 3 years of age. The analysis was carried out following the method suggested by Eberhart and Russel. Provenances, 18144 Kenya, 18160 Malaysia, 18298 Thailand, 18355 Benin, 18268 China, Palacherla A India and Mixed Seedlot India 5 were included in group I when stability parameters for tree height was considered and hence are the most stable clones with respect to tree height. 18298 Thailand and 18586 China though recorded high mean values, were found unpredictable over growth periods due to the significant deviation from regression. Four provenances namely, 18160 Malaysia, 18357 Philippines, 18268 China and Palacherla A India exhibited stability for DBH. Five provenances, 18144 Kenya, 18160 Malaysia, 18355 Benin, 18268 China and Palacherla A proved to be stable across the five locations with respect to volume index. No provenances were found suitable for planting in sites with stress or favourable conditions.