Morphological Variations and Germination Behaviour of Seeds of Four Fodder Tree Species

The study was conducted for the morphological and germination behavior of four fodder tree species viz., Gmelina arborea, Sesbania grandiflora, Moringa oleifera and Bauhinia purpurea under nursery conditions. The experiment was carried out at the nursery of the ICFRE Eco-Rehabilitation, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, during April 2021 and different germination parameters viz., germination percent, survival percent, germination capacity, germination energy, vigour index, mean daily germination and mean germination time along with seed morphological parameters were studied in four replications. The highest seed length and width was recorded in B. purpurea (17.57 mm ± 2.79) and (13.38 mm ± 1.95) respectively, seed thickness in M. oleifera (10.92 mm ±1.39), the highest seed weight was recorded in G. arborea (65.95 gm ± 0.79). Seeds of S. grandiflora recorded highest germination percent (83.42%), seedling vigour index (762.30), mean daily germination (6.41) and germination index (66.11), highest seed germination capacity value (84.90%), seed germination value (52.50%), highest survival of seedling value (96.16 %) among three other fodder species despite being the smallest seed size. Such an investigation may help in developing conservation strategies in nursery conditions and fodder availability during lean period.