Vol. 11, Issue 11 (2022)

The current study on variations in fruit and seed characteristics of candidate plus trees (CPTs) of Toona ciliata in Jammu subtropics was conducted in the Division of Agroforestry, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Chatha, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir during 2021. In this study, survey was conducted along the distribution range of species and 22 CPTs were selected in subtropical and intermediate zone of Jammu region based on their phenotypic superiority. Fruits were collected from selected CPTs during the first and second weeks of June with collection starting from lower altitudes and subsequently progressing to higher altitudes. The parameters studied were fruit length and breadth, seed length and width, number of seeds per fruit, and 100 fruit and seed weight. The study found significant differences in the morphological traits in fruit and seed characters of T. ciliata with fruit length ranged from 16.88 to 25.60 mm, fruit breadth ranged from 8.23 to 11.78 mm, seeds per capsule ranged between 19.67 and 28.33, fruit weight ranged from 151.70 gm to 365.00 gm and 100 seeds weight varied greatly between seed sources ranging from 0.12 to 0.36 g. The value for maximum seed length with wings was 10.44 mm, whereas, the value for minimum seed length with wings was 12.61 mm. The seed length without seed wings varied between 4.83 mm and 6.82 mm and the values for seed width without seed wings ranged between 2.2 mm and 3.08 mm. From the present study, it may be concluded that the CPTs viz. CPTs viz. CPT-1, CPT-11, CPT-12, CPT-22, and CPT-6 with large sized fruits with more number of seeds can be used for commercial raising of quality planting material and the variability recorded may be exploited for further genetic improvement in the species.