Department of Silviculture and NRM, Forest College and Research Institute (TNAU), Mettupalayam-641 301, Tamil Nadu, India
*Corresponding author: Prof. (Dr). A. Balasubramanian (Professor and Head Silviculture), Department of Silviculture and NRM, Forest College and Research Institute (TNAU), Mettupalayam-641 301, Tamil Nadu, e-mail: balafcri@gmail.com, Contact: +91 9443505845
Online published on 18 April, 2020.
Development of standardized descriptors is essential to protect tree genetic resources from exploitation and conserve gene banks to operate effectively. Based on the morphological characterization of identified Neem accessions, 19 descriptors with 51 descriptor states were developed. Among the descriptors developed for Neem, four were qualitative descriptors viz. leaflet margin, presence of fruit cavity, fruit neck and fruit shoulder, eight were quantitative descriptors viz. leaflet length, leaflet width, petiole length, rachis length, fruit length, fruit width, seed length and seed width and seven were pseudo-qualitative descriptors viz. tree habit, leaflet shape, petal shape, fruit shape, shape of fruit apex, seed shape and seed tip. The maximum fruit length (2.21 cm) and fruit width (1.82 cm) were recorded in accession PDK and minimum were in MLI. The variability in the existing germplasm can be exploited for strategic future neem improvement programmes and provides a framework for the development of DUS descriptors.
Neem, DUS characters, Quantitative characters, Pseudo-qualitative characters
