Characterization and evaluation of morphological and yield traits of tamarind genotypes

The evaluation of morphological and yield traits of tamarind genotypes was carried out during 2017-18 at Forest Research Station, Govinkovi, Honnali taluk, Davangere district. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with 16 genotypes and three replications. Trees were 14-years-old and of grafted origin. All the morphological and yield traits showed significant difference among the selected genotypes indicating the presence of adequate variations. The genotypes recorded morphological variation in terms of tree shape (semi-circle to irregular shape), foliage arrangement (dense to sparse), flowering time (early, mid and late), stem colour (dark brown, brown and light brown), bud colour (greenish white, pink, dark pink), petal colour (yellow and pale yellow), pod colour (greyish brown, brown, light brown and dark brown), pulp colour (light brown, brown and reddish brown), pod shape (straight, slightly curved, curved and deeply curved) and pod size (very big, big, medium and small). The analysis of variance revealed significant difference with respect to tree height, stem girth, pod traits, pod yield per tree (K-9 : 12.80 kg), number of pods per tree (NTI-52 : 989.07) and pulp per cent (K-9 : 48.87). Among the 16 genotypes, the genotype K-9 was found superior with respect to pod size, pod weight, pulp weight and pod yield per tree. Genotype K-9 was found promising and due to perennial in nature further evaluation is required for stability.