EFFECT OF DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF CASHEW SCION AND GRAFTING PERIOD ON GRAFTING SUCCESS OF CASHEW SAPLING (Anacardium occidentale L.)

The present experiment was carried at Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station, Ullal, Mangalore, Dakshina Kannada, Ka rnataka state, India during 2016-17. Among the treatments, lowest number of days (10.90 days) taken for scion sprouting in UN-50 during April followed by Ullal-3 where it sprouts at 11 days. During October lowest number of scion sprout were recorded in Ullal-1 and Ullal-3 (14.40 days). The observations at April grafting showed that the shoot height ranged from 7.00 to 5.30 cm. The maximum shoot height was (7.00 cm) was found inUN-50 grafts prepared in the month of April followed by Ullal-3.The April month has recorded highest percentage of success ranged from 85.80 to 84.00 (%). There was no significant difference found in October g rafted. Correlation analyses in both the month such as April and October to measure for suitable month with other characters indicated that, in the month of April, le af size was found to be significant and positively correlated with shoot height. Number of days taken to sprout scion was found to be significantly and positively correlated with T mosquito damage at 6 months and grafts success at 3 months. With over all observation in correlation analysis suggest that leaf size, number of da ys taken to sprout scion, graft success at three and six months as well as T mosquito damage would decide the success rate of quality grafts. Key wordsVariety of scion, Grafting period, Grafting Success, Saplings, Anacardium occidentale L