Enhancing Stem Cutting Success in Kusum (Schleichera oleosa) Through Girdling, Defoliation, and Donor Age Selection: A Propagation Breakthrough
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48165/ija.2026.28.02.11Keywords:
Schleichera oleosa, Kusum, clonal propagation, girdling, defoliation, rooting success, donor ageAbstract
Schleichera oleosa (Kusum) is a multipurpose tree species of immense ecological and socio-economic importance, particularly as a primary host for lac production. However, its large-scale plantation is constrained by poor seed propagation and low rooting success in stem cuttings. The present study evaluated the combined influence of girdling, defoliation, and mother plant age on rooting success in Kusum cuttings under controlled nursery conditions. Results revealed that both girdling and defoliation significantly enhanced rooting initiation, rooting success, and survival, with the highest rooting performance (45.56% initiation, 13.67% success, 14.32% survival) recorded from 5 – 10 years old donor plants subjected to girdling three months prior and defoliation seven days before cutting collection. Furthermore, juvenile donor material (<3 years old) exhibited superior rooting potential (53% initiation, 50.25% success, 48.50% survival) compared to older plantations, where rooting success declined with age. Post-transplanting assessment indicated excellent field establishment with zero mortality over two years. These findings highlight the critical role of pre-conditioning techniques and donor age in enhancing clonal propagation success, offering a viable pathway for mass multiplication and conservation of Kusum.
Downloads
References
Amri, E., Lyaruu, H. V. M., Nyomora, A. S., & Kanyeka, Z. L. (2010). Vegetative propagation of African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon Guill. & Perr.): Effects of age of donor plant, IBA treatment, and cutting position on rooting ability of stem cuttings. New Forests, 39(2), 183–194.
Basu, R. N., Ghosh, B., Datta, P., & Sen, P. K. (1972). Rooting of cuttings of Mangifera indica L. Acta Horticulturae, 24, 61–64.
Berhe, D., & Negash, L. (1998). Asexual propagation of Juniperus procera from Ethiopia: A contribution to the conservation of African pencil cedar. Forest Ecology and Management, 112(1–2), 179–190.
Bhardwaj, D. R., & Mishra, V. K. (2005). Vegetative propagation of Ulmus villosa: Effects of plant growth regulators, collection time, type of donor, and position of shoot on adventitious root formation in stem cuttings. New Forests, 29(2), 105–116.
Bhatt, B. P., & Todaria, N. P. (1993). Propagation of Bauhinia retusa by stem cuttings in Garhwal Himalaya. Indian Journal of Forestry, 16(2), 172–173.
Biswas, M. (1986). Effect of indolebutyric acid, girdling, and wounding on rooting of Artocarpus heterophyllus L. cuttings [Master’s thesis, University of Hawaii].
Browne, R. D., Davidson, C. G., & Gobin, S. M. (1996). Effects of crown position and plant age on rooting of jack pine long shoot cuttings. Tree Planters’ Notes, 47(3), 100–104.
Browne, R. D., Davidson, C. G., Steeves, T. A., & Dunstan, D. I. (1997). Effects of ortet age on adventitious rooting of jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) long shoot cuttings. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 27, 91–96.
Brundell, D. J. (1975). Effect of defoliation, shading, and tipping of shoots on flower bud development and vegetative growth of Chinese gooseberry (Actinidia chinensis Planch.). New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 18(4), 365–370.
Dhakar, M. K., & Das, B. (2017). Standardization of grafting technique in litchi. Indian Journal of Horticulture, 74(1), 16–19.
Ferriani, A. P., & Krinski, D. (2019). Effect of cuttings defoliation and different substrates on the vegetative propagation of the monkey-pepper (Piper aduncum L.) (Piperaceae). Revista Colombiana de Ciencias Hortícolas, 13(1), 130–136.
Hackett, W. P. (1988). Donor plant maturation and adventitious root formation. In T. D. Davis, B. E. Haissig, & N. Sankhla (Eds.), Adventitious root formation in cuttings (pp. 11–28). Dioscorides Press.
Hare, R. C. (1978). Effect of shoot girdling and season on rooting of slash pine cuttings. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1139/x78-003
Hareesh, T. S., Vasudeva, R., Chandrasekhra, A. M., & Shiavana, G. (2001). Standardization of vegetative propagation method in Ougeinia oogenensis, a threatened species of the Western Ghats. My Forest, 37, 359–364.
Hartmann, H. T., & Kester, D. E. (1975). Plant propagation (3rd ed.). Prentice-Hall.
Hartmann, H. T., Kester, D. E., Davies, F. T., & Geneve, R. L. (2002). Plant propagation: Principles and practices (7th ed.). Prentice Hall.
Jaiswal, A. K., & Singh, J. P. (2010). Schleichera oleosa and lac cultivation (Technical Bulletin No. 06, pp. 1–38). ICAR–Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums.
Johkan, M., Oda, M., & Mori, G. (2008). Ascorbic acid promotes graft take in sweet pepper plants (Capsicum annuum L.). Scientia Horticulturae, 116(4), 343–347.
Kumar, S., Shamet, G. S., Kumari, N., & Hegde, N. (2018). Rooting response of Acer acuminatum cuttings to IBA, girdling, and season. Indian Journal of Ecology, 45(4), 806–809.
Ky-Dembele, C., Tigabu, M., Bayala, J., Savadogo, P., Boussim, I. J., & Odén, P. C. (2011). Clonal propagation of Khaya senegalensis: The effects of stem length, leaf area, auxins, smoke solution, and stockplant age. International Journal of Forestry Research, 2011, Article 281269. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/281269
Luna, T. (2008). Vegetative propagation of coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens [Lamb. ex D. Don]). Native Plants Journal, 9, 25–28.
Mani, A., Bhowmick, N., Sau, S., Singh, S., & Yadav, V. K. (2018). Efficacy of different root promoting factors and stem girdling on rooting success of litchi cuttings. Research Journal of Chemical and Environmental Sciences, 6(1), 84–89.
Nautiyal, S., Nautiyal, D. P., Bhandari, H. C. S., Pankaj, K., & Rakesh, P. (2007). Mass propagation protocol for Podocarpus nerifolius D. Don through juvenile shoot cuttings. Indian Forester, 133(2), 262–265.
Ooyama, N., & Toyoshima, A. (1965). Rooting ability of pine cuttings and its promotion. Bulletin of the Forestry Experiment Station.
Palanisamy, K., & Kumar, P. (1997). Seasonal variation in adventitious rooting in branch cuttings of Pongamia pinnata (Pierre). Indian Forester, 122(3), 236–239.
Radhamani, J., Singh, A. K., & Sharma, A. (2003). Exploring conventional seed storage in some tropical species. In R. D. Smith, J. B. Dickie, S. H. Linington, H. W. Pritchard, & R. J. Probert (Eds.), Seed conservation: Turning science into practice (pp. 777–784). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Sarkar, P. K., Bishnoi, S. K., Shinde, R., & Das, B. (2017a). Prevalent agroforestry systems of Jharkhand state of India: A livelihood option. Rashtriya Krishi, 12(1), 87–89.
Sarkar, P. K., Sinha, A., Bhatt, B. P., Kumar, R., Sarkar, A., Banerjee, S., Ghosh, J., Kujur, R. S., & Kulkarni, N. (2019). Effect of pretreatment of explants and in vitro culture media in controlling infection and browning in Kusum [Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken]. International Journal of Chemical Studies, 7(SP6), 914–917.
Sarkar, P. K., Sinha, A., Das, B., Dhakar, M. K., Shinde, R., Chakrabarti, A., Yadav, V. K., & Bhatt, B. P. (2022). Kusum (Schleichera oleosa [Lour.] Oken): A potential multipurpose tree species, its future perspective and the way forward. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 42(6), 565–571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chnaes.2021.04.003
Sarkar, P. K., Sinha, A., Dhakar, M. K., Das, B., & Bhatt, B. P. (2023). Standardization of grafting technique in Kusum [Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken]. Forest Science and Technology, 19(1), 30–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/21580103.2023.2166132
Sarkar, P. K., Sinha, A., Kumar, R., Sarkar, A., Banerjee, S., Dhakar, M. K., Das, B., & Bhatt, B. P. (2022). Standardization of protocols for plant growth media and seasons for cuttings of Kusum [Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken]. International Journal of Environment and Climate Change, 12(12), 1273–1284. https://doi.org/10.9734/ijecc/2022/v12i121566
Sheoran, O. P., Tonk, D. S., Kaushik, L. S., Hasija, R. C., & Pannu, R. S. (1998). Statistical software package for agricultural research workers. In D. S. Hooda & R. C. Hasija (Eds.), Recent advances in information theory, statistics & computer applications (pp. 139–143). Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University.
Siahaan, F. A. (2017). Effect of storage conditions and storage periods on seed germination of Kesambi (Schleichera oleosa [Lour.] Merr). Journal Perbenihan Tanaman Hutan, 5(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.20886/bptpth.2017.5.1.1-11
Singh, K. K. (2018). A review: Macro-propagation of guava (Psidium guajava). Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 7(2), 2629–2634.
Sinha, A. (2012). Clonal propagation of Schleichera oleosa by cleft grafting. The Indian Forester, 138(9), 835–838.
Sinha, A., & Akhtar, S. (2008). Nodal bud culture in Schleichera oleosa: Aseptic culture establishment, explant survival, and influence of plant growth regulators. Indian Journal of Genetics, 68(2), 219–221.
Stoltz, L. P., & Hess, C. E. (1966). The effect of girdling upon root initiation: Carbohydrates and amino acids. Proceedings of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 89, 734–743.
