Development and documentation of dus traits for Melia dubia Cav. genetic resources

Melia dubia Cav. is a fast-growing, multi-purpose tree suitable for various wood-based industries. Several tree improvement programmes have been undertaken within the country and tamil nadu agricultural University has played a significant role in varietal development of this species. In order to protect the genetic resources through the existing legal mechanism, there is a need to develop DUS traits for each germplasm. Under such criteria, attempts were made to characterize and document DUS traits for Melia dubia genetic resources which involved 30 improved genotypes. as of now, there is no systematic documentation of DUS traits. the present study deployed 30 Melia dubia genotypes and identified DUS traits for bark, branch and leaf characters. The DUS characterization was carried out by studying the morphological characters such as bark colour and texture, branch angle, leaf apex and base shape, leaf margin and leaf rachis colour as qualitative parameters. the lenticel characters like size, diameter, density and leaf characters like length and breadth are assessed as quantitative parameters. The study exhibited significant variations among the melia genotypes for various DUS traits.