Morphological Evaluation of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) Populations Under Different Major Gene Pool Areas of Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh
Morphological evaluation in Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) was carried out among nine major gene pool areas and three growing conditions, within each major gene pool area of Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh. The performance of most morphological traits showed significant variations among different major gene pool areas as well as within different growing conditions. GPA-4 (Schilling) was superior than other major gene pool areas for plant and leaf morphological traits and GPA-3(Sheigo) for fruits parameters among different major gene pool areas. Over all, GC-3 (crop land) was found superior for all morphological traits among different growing conditions and in different major gene pool areas. It emerged from the present study that a large variability exists in the population of Hippophae rhamnoides growing under different growing conditions among different major gene pool areas in Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh, particularly for morphological traits, which can be harnessed for improved genetic gain. The variability of different characters could be utilized for selection of genotypes suitable for the plantation and utilization in making different non wood forest products and also for utilizing ecological and economical gains in cold desert of Himachal Pradesh.