Improvement of Exotic and Indigenous Poplars in

Dinesh Kumar

Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India [email protected] Poplar : Major Groups y Indigenous

{ Important more for ecological and social reasons than commercial utility

{ Occur in temperate and sub-temperate areas y Exotic

{ Important for commercial reasons

{ Planted in subtropical ( deltoides) and temperate (P. nigra) areas Populus deltoides-based agroforestry plantation in Punjab Avenue plantation of exotic poplar in Kashmir Southern Limits of Indigenous and Exotic Poplars in India Southern Limits of Indigenous and Exotic Poplars in India Populus: Indigenous species y P. ciliata y P. alba y P. euphratica y P. laurifolia y P. gamblei y P. jacquemontii var. glauca y P. rotundifolia Populus: Exotic species y P. deltoides y P. nigra y Others { P. x euramericana { P. trichocarpa { P. yunnanensis { P. tremuloides { P. maximowiczii Populus ciliata y The most extensive indigenous poplar y Distributed at 1300-3000 m altitude y Planted on unstabilised slopes, freshly exposed soils along roads or nurse crop for Abies pindrow regeneration y Planted around orchards as wind break y Uses: Packing cases, match sticks, fuel, fodder; also suitable for plywood and hardboards Populus ciliata Improvement: Population Survey

Altitude State No. of stands <1800 m Uttarakhand 3 Himachal Pradesh 7 3 1800-2200 m 21 28 Arunachal Pradesh 1 2200-2600 m Uttarakhand 92 Himachal Pradesh 24 Arunachal Pradesh 6 2600-3000 m Uttarakhand 23 Himachal Pradesh 4 Arunachal Pradesh 6 >3000 m Uttarakhand 9 Total 227 y Population survey { Trees of river flood plain deposits and ravine / seasonal water courses have greater m.a.i. than those associated with high-level conifers (Khurana and Khosla, 1982). { Male: female ratio 3:2 { Female trees prefer exposed areas while male trees occur with dominant species; females attain greater sizes (Khosla et al., 1979). Sites of germplasm collection by Rajgopal et al., 2000 (Rajgopal et al., 2000) y Provenance trials { Maximum resistance against Melampsora rust observed in Rahla provenance y CPT selection for growth, form, resistance to Melampsora rust and stem gall { Rust (M. ciliata) infection was more in provenances at lower altitudes as compared to higher altitudes (Gupta et al., 2002) { Dysgenic selection y Hybridisation { with P. deltoides Ù Full compatibility of P. ciliata x P. deltoides and reciprocals (Chaturvedi and Rawat, 1992, 1994) Ù P. deltoides x P. ciliata not compatible (Khosla and Thakur, 1991) { with P. maximowiczii { with P. x euramericana ‘I-455’ { with P. yunnanensis

{ Hybrids with P. deltoides and P. maximowiczii grew faster in nursery than P. ciliata (Mohanty and Khurana, 2000, Khurana, 2007) { Hybrids with P. deltoides planted in field trials (Jha and Kumar, 2000) xxxxxxxxx xxx

… xxxxxx xxxxxxB xxxxxx Axxxxxx xxxxxx yHybrids with P. deltoides with different rooting patterns

{Category A: for interplanting Cxxxxxx xxxxxxD with agricultural crop xxxxxxxxxxx {Category C: for block planting

{ Category D: for planting on xxxxxx loose soil xxxxxx (Khurana, 2007) xxxxxx xxxxxxE xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx y Isozyme (Handa et al., 2000, Narkhede, 1995) and RAPD markers (Rajagopal et al., 1999) for identification of interspecific hybrids and superior clones Populus alba y Occurs in Western (i.e. parts of Lahaul and Kinnaur, Kashmir) at 2500 - 3300 m altitude y Severely lopped for fodder y Seeds are scarce Populus alba Improvement

Population survey

Altitude State Range No. of stands

<2400 m Himachal Akpa 5 Pradesh

2400-2800 m Himachal Akpa 5 Pradesh Pooh 3 Yangthan 1 >2800 m Himachal Pooh 1 Pradesh Yangthan 1 Total 16 y Provenance trial { 26 provenances from Kashmir, Leh, and Himachal Pradesh classified into category C (7) and category D (19) rooting patterns { Rooting pattern consistent within a provenance (except two provenances) y CPT selection and clonal multiplication { P-14 Raksham clone found superior { 125 ppm IBA found effective for mass multiplication Populus euphratica y Occurs in cold desert area in Western Himalayas (i.e. parts of Ladakh and Spiti) at 2400 - 4000 m altitude y Severely lopped for fodder Populus euphratica Improvement

Population survey Altitude State Range No. of stands

3,000 m Jammu and Nubra 1 Kashmir

3,050 m Jammu and Nubra 1 Kashmir

3,100 m Jammu and Nubra 1 Kashmir Populus gamblei y Southernmost species of indigenous poplar in India (27o-30oN latitude) y Occurs in Eastern Himalayas (North Bengal, , Arunachal Pradesh) at 600 –1300 m altitude y Used for packing cases and match industries Populus gamblei Improvement

Population survey Altitude State Locality Compart Stand Stand -ment population no. no. 1 100 HP-1 (0.4 ha) 1500 - Arunachal Yachuti 1(C1) 10,000 HP2 1600 m Pradesh Range (3 ha) 1 6,000 HP3 (2 ha) 1 12,000 HP-4 (5 ha)

Populus deltoides y Exotic; yet most important species of this genus in India y Trees standing: >30 million y Average planting/replanting rate: 5.5 million /year i.e. 11,000 ha/year (requirement surpassed 12 million in 2008) y Major planting region: Ù Plains of North-West India (Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh) Ù Low hills/plains in parts of Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir y Uses: Plywood, matchstick, paper and charcoal Poplar-wheat agroforestry model Poplar-turmeric agroforestry model Poplar wood being taken to market by farmers Traditional charcoal kiln using roots of poplar and other wood waste y Planted in agroforestry plantations in north India y Rotation 6-8 years y Mean annual increment: 20-25m3/ha/yr y Yield upto 49m3 has been recorded in few plantations y Planting sites: Irrigated agricultural field of farmers y Planting method: Planted with agricultural crops, rather than solo plantation y Spacing: { 5m x 4m or 4m x 4m as block plantation { 3 m to 4m in linear rows as boundary plantation y Crops grown: Grain crops (except rice), vegetables, pulses, medicinal plants, fruit trees Populus deltoides Improvement y P. deltoides introduced in early 1950s with several species of this genus y By 1969, P. deltoides and its interspecific hybrids etc. had proved their superiority in terai region (e.g. I-488, I-214, I- 215) y In 1969, more clones introduced e.g. D-121, G-3, G-48, 61/183, 65/27, etc. y By 1983, clones G-3, G-48 and D-121 became most popular y 1983, open-pollinated seeds of G-48 x G-3 were collected. y By 1994, G-3 became prone to leaf blight y Finding out new exotic clones for planting { WIMCO, FRI, Universities, State Forest Departments Ù S7C8 Ù 82-35-4 Ù S7C15 Ù S7C20 y Development of new clones through hybridisation { G-48 x G-3 (WSL-series, L-series clones) { Other hybrids Growth Data of Select Exotic Clones of P. deltoides at State Forest Department, Haldwani in Terai Region, Uttarakhand

Rank Clone 1 S7C8 2 82-35-4 3 113324 4(Check clone) G-48 5 3167 6 3324 7 111828 8 73/53-2 54 (Check clone) G-3 Total clones: 108, Period: 1985-1991 (60 clones), 1989-1994 (63 clones) (Kumar et al., 2001) Growth Data of Select Clones of P. deltoides Produced Through Open- Pollination at Haldwani in Terai Region, Uttarakhand

Rank Clone m.a.i. (m 3/ha/yr) 1 L-169/84 39.84 2 L-188/85 39.19 3 L-51/85 36.67 4 L-34/82 36.56 5 L-51/84 35.74 6 L-17/85 35.70 7 L-116/84 35.53 Check clone G-3 21.74 Check clone G-48 23.85 Check clone D-121 <10.00

Trial: 1989-1997 (Burfal, 2001) Introduction of More Germplasm

P. deltoides germplasm in India till P. deltoides germplasm introduced 1996 in India during 1996 Growth Data of Select Clones of P. deltoides Produced at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun from Seed Introduced from South and South-Eastern USA

Total clones: 95, Period: 2001-2007 Rank Clone Height (m) Dbh (cm) Clean bole ht Vol. under m.a.i. 3 3 (m) bark (m ) (m /ha/yr)

1 FRI-AM-58 20.53 31.32 5.26 0.519 43.25 2 FRI-AM-51 20.53 29.44 5.44 0.458 38.17 3 FRI-AM-41 20.16 29.52 7.44 0.452 37.67 4 FRI-AM-32 19.25 30.08 9.18 0.448 37.33 5 FRI-AM-54 20.25 29.30 5.90 0.447 37.25 6 FRI-AM-44 21.07 28.59 5.26 0.443 36.92 7 FRI-AM-59 20.25 28.56 8.39 0.425 35.42 8 FRI-AM-12 19.58 28.96 8.07 0.423 35.25 9 FRI-AM-48 21.25 27.26 7.27 0.406 33.83 10 FRI-AM-42 20.05 27.96 8.37 0.403 33.58 11 FRI-AM-106 18.33 29.09 6.54 0.399 33.25 12 FRI-AM-4 19.74 27.86 6.37 0.394 32.83 13 FRI-AM-89 19.16 28.27 7.44 0.394 32.83 14 FRI-AM-53 18.98 28.33 8.54 0.391 32.58 Contd. on next slide Contd. from previous slide Rank Clone Height (m) Dbh (cm) Clean bole ht Vol. under m.a.i. 3 (m) bark (m ) (m3/ha/yr)

15 FRI-AM-105 20.81 26.93 8.25 0.388 32.33 16 FRI-AM-40 19.89 27.51 8.63 0.387 32.25 17 FRI-AM-24 19.56 27.48 6.17 0.379 31.58 18 FRI-AM-33 19.72 27.36 7.45 0.379 31.58 19 FRI-AM-87 20.73 26.61 7.88 0.377 31.42 20 FRI-AM-20 20.37 26.59 9.82 0.370 30.83 21 FRI-AM-109 19.80 26.55 6.21 0.358 29.83 22 FRI-AM-7 18.33 27.56 8.83 0.357 29.75 23 FRI-AM-13 19.58 26.64 6.57 0.357 29.75 24 FRI-AM-45 22.26 24.99 7.77 0.357 29.75 25 FRI-AM-30 20.01 26.31 6.46 0.355 29.58 26 FRI-AM-93 19.82 26.33 8.86 0.353 29.42 27 G-48 21.47 25.01 8.50 0.345 28.75 (Check clone) y Clones have been tested for fibre length at Dehradun and Ludhiana. y Focus now shifting to wood quality as well. y Nursery stock raised through tissue culture possessed serpentine stem and early setting of dormancy in autumn. Rooting was better but field growth declined by 67 per cent in timber vol. vis-à-vis control. Wood was found to be sub- optimal in plywood and safety match industries (Dhiman and Gandhi, 2006). Registration of Clones

• No mechanism so far at national level • Eight clones registered by Produced by WIMCO are registered with International Poplar Commission Six Outstanding Clones Produced by WIMCO and Registered with International Poplar Commission in 2002 Clone Height dbh Volume (m3) WSL-22 30.2 91.0 0.700 WSL-27 30.9 91.0 0.716 WSL-32 31.9 100 0.887 WSL-39 24.5 99.0 0.667 WSL-A26 26.0 91.0 0.607 WSL-A49 27.4 96.0 0.707 G-48 27.0 81.0 0.501 (Check clone)

Development of Approach for Multi-Step Selection and Concurrent Multiplication of Superior Clones of P. deltoides Approaches for Selection of Poplar Clones

• Full-rotation field testing + Multiplication : Time period : 6 + 4 = 10 years Accuracy : Highest

6 4 • Half-rotation field testing + Multiplication : 3 Time period : 3 + 4 = 7 years Accuracy : ? ? 3 4 Selection intensity: ? • Multi-step selection + Multiplication : Time period : ?

? ? ? Accuracy : ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Ages for multi-step selection: ? Selection intensties : ? Timing for multiplication: ? Logistics : ? Scatter plot of ranks for age 6 and younger ages for volume (D2H) of 60 clones Wrongly selected Correctly 60 selected

50

40 H1 2 30

RD Wrongly rejected 20 Correctly rejected 10

0 0 102030405060 RD2H6 Ranks: Age 1 vs Age 6

60 Best 5 (Accuracy 20 %)

50 Best 10 (Accuracy 50 %) Best 15 (Accuracy 60 %) 40

30 Best 30 (Accuracy 63.3 %) Vol. 1

20

10

0 0 102030405060 Vol. 6 Per cent accuracy of early selection for stem volume

Selection No. of clones targeted for selection out of 60 age clones in trial (years) 5 10 15 30 Average

2 60 50 46.7 76.7 58.35 3 40 80 80.0 90.0 72.50 77.50 4 60 80 80.0 90.0 91.65 5 80 100 93.3 93.3

Average 60.00 77.5 75.0 87.5 Likely Scenarios of Relationships among Different Steps of Multi-Step Selection

(1) (2)

(3) Selection Strategy Suggested

Selection age Proportion of Proportion Accuracy in (years) clones that should targetted selecting be selected (no. of clones targeted clones out of 60)

1 2 yrs. ( /3 of 60% (36 out of 60) 30 86.7% rotation age)

3yrs. (½ of 33% (20 out of 60) 15 93.3% rotation age)

2 4 yrs. ( /3 of 13% (8 out of 60) 5 100% rotation age)

5 5 yrs. ( /6 of 5% (3 out of 60) 3 100% rotation age) 23 58 57 24 18 31 49 15 52 3 56 48 40 32 19 9 45 41 7 22 12 51 2 27 39 Step 1: age 2 42 16 Step 2: age 3 21 26 5 Step 3: age 4 10 13 44 Step 4: age 5 38 53 54 11 28 25 33 29 4 46 Step1 1 50 6 14 20 37 Step 2 55 43 60 8 Step 3 47 35 36 Step 4 30 34 59 17 ID numbers of clones selected in four steps Approach for Early Selection and Concurrent Multiplication

y Select 60%, 33%, 13% and 5% clones at age 2, 3, 4 and 5 years. y Start multiplication at age 2 on basis of 2nd year stem volume. y Refine selection every year on basis of current growth data.

% clones selected 60 33 13 5 Year of clonal 1 2 3 4 5 6 multiplication y Stop multiplication of rejected clones at every step. Advantages of This Approach y Accuracy close to selection at rotation age. y Speed faster than selection at half-rotation age. y Facilitates selection for rooting ability too during field testing and multiplication. y Captures juvenility for easy rooting. y Selection for other traits can be amicably combined with selection for stem volume in this approach. (Kumar D. and Singh, N.B. 2001. Silvae Genetica, 50: 103-108.) Logistics and comparison with other approaches

Particulars Age of early selection 2 years 3 years (½ 4 years 5 years (1/3 of of (2/3 of (5/6 of rotation) rotation) rotation) rotation) Percentage of clones targeted 50% 25% 8% 5% Percentage of clones selection 60% 33% 13% 5% Percentage success achieved 86.7% 93.3% 100% 100% % superiority over average clone 125% 148% 185% 212% % superiority over one-step 79.4% 94.1% 117.5% 134.7% selection of best 25% clones at half-rotation age % superiority over one-step 86.5% 102.4% 127.9% 146.6% selection of best 25% clones at one-third of rotation age No. of plants per clone at end of 20 200 2,000 20,000 early selection age No. of clones in vegetative 60 33 13 5 multiplication garden No. of plants in vegetative 1,200 6,600 26,000 100,000 multiplication garden Ratio of requirement for 0.01 : 0.07 : 0.26 : 1.00 resources in nursery/ VMG