Plantation Crops

Propagation

• Seed Propagation:

  For nursery planting seeds are germinated in shaded beds of friable soils, sand or coir dust. Germinated seeds are transplanted into shaded nurseries at spacing depending on the type of plant required. Seed germination will be completed in about 3 weeks. Seeds start germinating with in 6 - 10 days of sowing.
• Clonal seeds:

  Sexual progeny of budded clones is known as clonal seed. Seed garden progeny is probably a better name. As clonal seedlings are more variable than budded rubber their average yield is less. It is desirable to select for vigor in the nursery and in the field and later for yield in the early years of bearing. Legitimate seeds may be produced by hand pollination between selected clones.
• Budding:

  Popular method of vegetative propagation in rubber is by bud grafting using buds of selected mother trees. Nursery seedling can be bud grafted when they attain a girth of a pencil above the collar. Budded stocks are ready to be stumped about 4 weeks after budding. they are cut 10 - 15 cm above the bud patch and the stumps are pulled out and transplanted in the main field. Green budding with buds stripped from green shoots is also practiced.

  Rubber is almost entirely propagated through bud grafting of modern high – yielding clones. Bud grafting is done on the seedlings when they are 2-8 months old using green or brown dormant bud patch collected from selected scion clones.
   
  Depending on the colour and age of the buds two types of budding are recognized.
• 1) Brown budding:

  Here bud wood is of about one year old. Brown buds are collected from bud wood of one year old and grafted on to the seedlings that are of about 10 months old. Stock plants: Vigorously growing 10 months of more aged plants having a girth of about 7.5 cm at the base are ideal for budding.

  Scion / bud wood: Buds from selected scion plants having about one year growth from the axils of fallen leaves are generally used. Normally 1-2 m of bud wood can be obtained from a bud wood shoot of one years growth from which about 20 buds can be obtained.
• 2) Green budding:

  Here both stock plant and scion used for green budding are young. Seedlings of 2 to 8 months old (with green stem) are used as stocks to graft green buds collected from leaf axils of bud wood that is 6 to 8 weeks (1 ½ to 2 months old ).
  Scion / bud wood = from bud shoots of 6 to 8 weeks growth.
  Stock plant = Vigourous seedlings of about 2 to 8 months age.
  Age of stock ? Vigorous seedlings of 2-to 8 month’s age with girth of about 2.5 cm and Brown bark up to a height of about 15 cm
  Scion ? Green buds taken from bud shoots of 6 – 8 week growth i.e. buds seen in the axil of scale leaves.

Sl No.	Particulars	Brown budding	Green budding
1.	Age of stock	> 10 months old	2 to 8 months old vigourous seedlings
2.	Maturity or age of scion  or bud wood.	One year	6 to 8 weeks
3.	Colour of bud wood	Brown and buds are in axils of fallen leaves.	Green and buds are in axils,  when leaves are still attached and functional.