Effect of different irrigation levels on performance of juvenile shoot cuttings of Pongamia pinnata

Pongamia is a promising source of biodiesel. This species is being promoted by the Planning Commission of India for large scale plantation due to its virtue of the yellow fatty non-edible oil, used for various purposes. The study was conducted at National Research Centre for Agroforestry, Jhansi to see the effect of different irrigation regimes on stem cuttings of Pongamia pinnata and a field experiment with three treatments [daily irrigation (I 1), one day interval (I 2) and two days interval (I 3)] was conducted. The results reflected that among different irrigation levels, I 1 (daily irrigation) registered maximum value for all the growth and productivity parameters, namely, plant height, root length, collar diameter, shoot biomass, root biomass, root : shoot ratio, leaf biomass, total biomass, CGR and RGR. The plants raised under I 3 (two days interval) shade level recorded minimum values for all these parameters.