Siddhast Technique: a new vegetative multiplication and water conservative technique for Jatropha curcas

Abstract

Energy security is one of the prime concerns of any developing/developed nation and India ranks sixth in the world in terms of energy demand. The Indian economy is expected to grow at a rate of over 6 per cent per annum. The petroleum imports are expected to rise to 166 MT by 2019 and 622 MT by 2047, hence there is a growing need for energy security. Jatropha curcas has the potential to become a significant source of renewable energy if improved varieties are developed which can achieve its potential in terms of oil yield per hectare in marginal land. For vegetative multiplication, we have successfully carried out air layering in Jatropha curcas through siddhast technique, where a stem is induced to form roots using Rooter Strand while branch is still intact on the parent plant. Virtually no extra water is required to be given to the parent tree to produce a rooted plant. Here, we examined the competency of eight Rooter Strands vis-à-vis two conventional techniques of air layering i.e. tourniquet and gootee. Results showed that time for root initiation did not vary with treatments. In branches tied with Rooter Strand rooting started in minimum 3 weeks; the average root initiation period with Rooter strand was 4.56-6.66 weeks of installation. However, both conventional techniques T9 and T10 required 8.05 weeks and 6.40 weeks, respectively, to start root initiation. Significantly better rooting observed as compared with tourniquet technique and highest 100 per cent rooting was recorded in Rooter Strand-2, 31 and 41 along with control. Significant difference also observed among all the treatments representing Rooter Strand showed usually 83 per cent or higher for survival percent. This technique is very easy and does not require much skill. This technique has the advantages of air layering i.e. less need for physical inputs (water, electricity, infrastructure, etc). It reduces water consumption up to 90 per cent and electricity 100 per cent as compared to tissue culture. Thus, this technique is very conservative from cuttings and much faster than normal procedure of air layering for producing true-to-type plant material and can be adopted for multiplication of superior varieties of this species for their large-scale deployment for biodiesel production to ensure sustainable development with least water requirement.