Performance of Vigorous Cashew Cultivars as Influenced by Dwarf Rootstocks

Abstract

An investigation was made to screen the rootstocks for dwarfness and to find out the influence of different stionic combinations on growth and yield parameters of popular cultivars of cashew. The scion varieties comprised of popular cultivars like Ullal-3, VRI-3, NRCC Selection-2 and Vengurla-4 (V-4). The rootstocks comprised of dwarf types like NRC 492 and Taliparamba-1 along with control (check) rootstock V-4. All the stionic combinations, excepting the ones which involved Taliparamba-1 as rootstock, recorded nearly cent per cent grafting success. The stionic combinations involving Taliparamba-1 as rootstock recorded around 50 per cent grafting success. Among the field planted stionic combinations, the parameters like plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, bark percentage, stomatal density and yield per plant varied among different stionic combinations. This clearly indicated the role of rootstocks in altering the vigour and yield of different scion cultivars in early stages of growth in cashew.