Developing climate resilient Salix clones through control breeding

Abstract

Over the years, two hundred clones/strains/species of Salix were introduced from different countries and raised in the germplasm bank.The best clones after nursery and field screening were selected for control crossing using Line × Tester design with 8 parents to develop superior hybrids.The F1 populations of the successful crosses were raised in the nursery in uniform environment to study the extent and pattern of variation in growth and morphometric characters. In case of overall performance PN-227 × NZ- 1140, J-799 × S. tetrasperma, PN-227 × J-795 and J-799 × Austree hybrid progenies were found outstanding for most of the growth and morphometric traits. High heritability and genetic gain were recorded for plant height followed by number of leaves and branches. The superior hybrids after further field evaluation and parental verification will be commercially released covering wider climatic range from tropical to temperate regions of the country.