Source Variation in Important Seed and Nursery Characteristics of Grewia optiva D. and Celtis australis L.

Grewia optiva (dhaman) and Celtis australis (khirak) are two major fodder tree species of intermediate zone of Jammu and Kashmir. Six seed sources of G. optiva and C. australis distributed over the range of their occurrence in Rajouri district of J&K were studied to know the pattern and extent of variation in seed morphology, germination and seedling parameters. Statistically significant differences were observed among the seed sources for all the characters. Seeds of G. optiva from Lamberi, Rajouri and Manjakot sources performed better for germination (79.72%, 78.32% and 77.32%, respectively), seedling survival (79.92%, 79.78% and 78.38%, respectively) and on account of 1000 seed weight(278.36g, 257.82g and 255.82, respectively). Seeds of C. australis from Manjakot, Rajouri and Lamberi sources performed better for germination (77.68%, 76.83% and 74.53%, respectively), seedling height (19.12 cm, 18.30 cm and 15.68 cm, respectively) and number of leaves (18.96, 17.20 and 18.18, respectively) and therefore found suitable for immediate plantation programmes. Greater variation was observed for seed and seedling traits among seed sources than within seed sources, suggesting that selection among provenances/seed sources might result in rapid genetic gain.