Influence of biofertilizers on seedling growth and vigour of Indian redwood [Soymida febrifuga roxb.] -A lesser known tree species

Soymida febrifuga popularly called as Indian Redwood, is one of the lesser known tree species distributed naturally in the deciduous forests. Through the research project, some population of this species are identified in different forests of South Gujarat. Its occurrence is found to be random and less dense with poor natural regeneration. In the present study, influence of biofertilizers on growth and vigour of Indian redwood seedlings were assessed in the nursery. A nursery experiment consisting of twenty-two treatments of six biofertilizers viz. Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Acetobacter, PSB, Pseudomonas and VAM in single and combinations including control, which were kept by following completely randomized design. Result shows that single and combination of biofertilizers treatments significantly influenced the seedling growth and vigour parameters in the seedlings of Indian redwood. Among them, seedlings treated with Azospirillum- PSB combination i.e., Azospirillum @ 5ml plant^-1 + PSB @ 5ml plant^-1 treatment, recorded the maximum seedling height (16.01 cm²), collar diameter (4.90 mm), total leaf area (469.43 cm²), fresh weight (17.66 g) and dry weight of seedlings (3.78 g) along with seedling quality index (0.75) after the age ofsix months over control and many other treatments. Therefore, this treatment is suggested for production of good quality seedlings Indian redwood in large quantity in nursery.