Muhammad Razaq， Hasnain Alam， Muhammad Ishfaq， and Salahuddin

1Department of Silviculture， Northeast Forestry University， Harbin 150040， China

2Department of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology， International Islamic University， Islamabad， Pakistan

3University of Haripur， Khyber Pakhtun khwa， Pakistan

Screening of Adoptive Elite Tea （Camellia sinensis） Clones

Muhammad Razaq1， Hasnain Alam2， Muhammad Ishfaq3， and Salahuddin1

1Department of Silviculture， Northeast Forestry University， Harbin 150040， China

2Department of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology， International Islamic University， Islamabad， Pakistan

3University of Haripur， Khyber Pakhtun khwa， Pakistan

The research screening of adoptive elite tea clones was conducted at NTRI， Mansehra during 2011-2012. Nine clones 101Aa， 105aa， 108aa， 561aa， 117aa， 219ab， 470bb and 180bd were evaluated for seedling performance. Randomized complete block design was used with three replications. Data was recorded on various morphological characters after 8 months. The results showed that high survival percentage， shoot length， number of roots plant-1， number of leaves plant-1and root length were observed in clone 105aa. While the highest fresh weight and dry weight of leaves were observed in clones 117aa and 105aa. The clone 105aa was drought resistant， high survival percentage and root growth. On the basis of the results， clone 105aa was recommended for cultivation through cuttings in the hilly areas of Pakistan where unequal rainfall distribution was a major hitch.

tea， Camellia sinensis， clone

Ιntroduction

Tea （Camellia sinensis （L.） O. Kuntze） belongs to family Theaceae of dicot which is contained more than 325 species （Mondal， 2002）. China is the origin of tea. Indians got familiar to tea due to British rulers in the 18th century （Yamanishi， 1991）. Tea is cultivated in about 30 countries， but is consumed worldwide，although at greatly varying levels. It is the most widely consumed beverage aside from water with a per capita worldwide consumption of approximately 0.12 L per year （Graham， 1992）. Its requirement is now met from tea exporting countries mostly from Kenya，China and Vietnam. It costs annually an approximate amount of 220 $ million US dollars. In Pakistan，tea is grown in Hazara and Swat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa （KP） lying around 34-37° N latitude and between 72-75° E longitude in a conjugate belt in thefoot hills of Himalayas and Hindukush besides area of Azad Jammu Kashmir. Tea is cross pollinated and heterozygous plant and there is wide variability in all the quantitative and qualitative traits. The superior clones are selected for high quality， yield and drought tolerance. Best material for vegetative propagation is a single node with 3-4 cm stem （Nakamura， 1984） from 6-8 months old shoots of 2 years old bushes （Sharma，1982）. Introduction and selection is the easiest way for improvement of tea production （Mondal， 2004）. Most of the tea gardens are established through seed （Banejere， 1992）. Genetically， superior as high yielding has about 0.5% variation within the existing tea population （Wight， 1958）. The early studies could not establish consistent correlations between the growth and yield parameters of the mother bushes and those of clones developed from them （Green， 1971）. There were strong correlations among the bush area，shoot number and yield of mother bushes and those oftheir clones （Nyirenda， 1989， 1991； Smith et al.， 1994）. Plants propagated through cuttings from superior clone are the genetic copies of the parent plant（Nathaniel， 1992） producing higher yield and uniform stand of crops which are economical and time saving techniques. Nathaniel （1992） identified 14 000 hectares area appropriate for tea cultivation. Tea plants are propagated through seed and cuttings. In most tea growing countries， the existing tea populations were established from seedling and having high variation that leads to low yielding. Most of the countries are diverted clonal propagation due to high yield and quality demand （Banerjee， 1992）. Genetically， superior plants about 0.5% are selected from the population and utilized to get uniform stand and high yield. Identification and selection of high yielding mother bushes is a challenging task for breeders and plant physiologists （Waheed et al.， 2012）. Early growth of shoot， vigor and number of plucking points are noted for selection. Studies showed that different varieties showed different responses under the similar environmental conditions due to environmental adoptability. Qi-Men cultivar performed better and giving more number of plucking points， whereas Chuye remained the poorest. Ruopi variety is the best one among all tea varieties by giving maximum number of branches plant-1， number of roots plant-1and fresh pruning weight plant-1. The highest number of plucking points was recorded in Qi-Men， but more dry weight plant-1of roots was noted in Chuye variety （Waheed et al.， 2000）. Genotypes have different responses to drought， pest and environmental condition. Introduction and selection is the common technique used to identify the superior clones and to check their environmental adoptabilities in the area. Introduction and selection is a continuous process to introduce high quality and yield， drought and pest resistant varieties.

In Pakistan， tea crop yield per acre is very low as compared to other tea producing countries. There are so many reasons of low yield but the prominent is the cultivation of low yield varieties and droughtness. This study was carried out to evaluate elite tea clones for their rooting abilities and nursery performances.

Materials and Methods

The study was carried out at National Tea Research Institute， Mansehra， Pakistan. Sixteen years old mother bushes 101aa， 105aa， 108aa， 561aa， 117aa， 219ab，470bb and 180bd were selected for study. Experiment was layout in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Semi-hardwood healthy shoots cutting with green and red portion were obtained from the bushes. Each cutting was 4 cm. The cuttings were treated with fungicide solution for 30 min to avoid the fungal attack and desiccation before planting in polythene sleeves in the nursery. The same standard cultural practices were adopted for all the clones.

Results and Discussion

Survival percentage

Survival percentage affected by different clones is presented in Table 1. Analyses of data showed that survival percentage was significantly affected by clones. The highest survival percentage （88%， 84% and 83%） was observed in clones 105aa， 108aa and 219ab which were statistical at far with each other followed by 470bb clone （78%）， while the lowest survival percentage （25%） was observed with 180bd. It might be due to genetic makeup of clones. Adaptive and acclimatized clones had higher survival percentile compared to other clones. These results were in line with Waheed et al. （2012） that the highest percentage was observed in clones 108aa and 219ab.

Shoot height

The data regarding shoot length is presented in Table 1. Statistical analyses of the data revealed that shoot length was significantly affected by the clones. The highest shoot length （12.31 cm） was observed in 105aa clone followed by （8.97 cm） in 117aa，while minimum shoot length （1.57 cm） was recorded in 219ab. It might be due to genetic makeup and environmental adoptability of clones. These results were similar with Waheed et al. （2012） who also observed that shoot length and growth of tea cultivar were different in different cultivars.

Table 1 Seedling performance of different clones under agro climatic conditions of Shinkiari Mansehra

Number of leaves plant-1

The data pertaining to number of leaves plant-1is presented in Table 1. Analyses of the data indicated that number of leaves plant-1was significantly affected by clones. Maximum number of leaves plant-1（6.067）was observed in 105aa clone followed by 180bd（4.00）， while the lowest number of leaves plant-1（2.16）was recorded in 101aa. It might be due to genetic makeup of clones and environmental conditions. These results were in line with waheed et al. （2012） who observed that maximum number of leaves plant-1was observed in 122aa clone.

Fresh weight of leaves plant-1

The data regarding fresh weight of leaves plant-1is presented in Table 1. Fresh weight of leaves was significantly affected by different clones. Maximum fresh weight of leaves plant-1（0.415 g） was observed in 117aa clone followed by 105aa （0.393 g）， while the lowest fresh weight of leaves （0.033 g） was recorded in 101aa. It might be due to genetic makeup of clones and environmental conditions that affected the fresh weight of leaves plant-1.

Dry weight of leaves plant-1

Dry weight of leaves affected by different clones is presented in Table 1. Statistical investigation of the data indicated that dry weight of leaves plant-1was significantly affected by clones. Maximum dry weight of leaves plant-1（0.173 g） was observed in 117aa clone followed by 105aa （0.145 g）， while the lowest dry weight of the leaves （0.020 g） was recorded in 101aa. It might be due to genetic structure of clones and environmental conditions that affected the dry weight of leaves plant-1.

Number of roots plant-1

The data concerning to dry number of roots is presented in Table 1. Analyses of the data indicated that number of roots plant-1was significantly affected by clones. Maximum number of roots plant-1（9.00）was observed in 105aa clone followed by 108aa（7.067）， while the lowest number of the roots （1.33）was recorded in 180aa. It might be due to genetic composition of clones and environmental conditions that affected the number of roots plant-1. These results were line with Waheed et al. （2000） that the highest roots plant-1was recorded in Chuye cultivar.

Root length

The data about root length is presented in Table 1. Root length was significantly affected by clones. Maximum root length （6.33 cm） was observed in 105aa clone followed by 101aa （2.80 cm）， while the lowest root length （0.40 cm） was recorded in 180aa. It might be due to genetic variability of different clones and environmental conditions that affected the root length. These results were in line with Waheed et al.（2000） who concluded that the highest root length was observed in Ruopi tea variety.

Conclusions

It was concluded from the current research experiment that clone 105aa was highly potential one among all the evaluated clones. Therefore， clone 105aa was recommended for cultivation through cuttings in the hilly areas of Pakistan where unequal rainfall distribution was a major hitch for high production.

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S571.1； Q78 Document code： A Article lD： 1006-8104（2015）-04-0033-04

Received 20 June 2015

Muhammad Razaq， E-mail: razaqaup@gmail.com