Agricultural Science Digest - A Research Journal

An attempt was made to standardize the cutting size for clonal multiplication of Jatropha. Four different sizes of stem cuttings viz., 5 mm-10 mm, 10 mm-15 mm, 15 mm-20 mm and 20 mm-25 mm were taken based on mid diameter of the cuttings and raised in mistless polytunnel system. The growth parameters viz., survival percentage, average root length, number of roots and sprouts per plant were taken. Among the sizes, the cutting size of 20 mm-25 mm expressed maximum survival percentage (94.34%) and was followed by 15 mm-20 mm (87.18%). All the clonal cuttings were planted in the field adopting Randomized Block Design in four replications at an espacement of 2m x 2m. These clonal plants evaluated at three months interval up to one year. The cuttings expressed significant variability in terms of growth. Among different cutting sizes, the cutting size of 20 mm-25 mm expressed early superiority in terms of plant height (184.58 cm), diameter (80.63 cm), and number of branches (6.33) under field conditions.