Journal of Life Sciences 5 (2011) 942-953

Shoot and Root Growth of Jatropha curcas Accessions Prospective for Rootstock on Rocky and Heavy Soil

Hamim Hamim1, Andeng Sutrisna1, Bambang Heliyanto2, Mohammad Cholid3 and Miftahudin1 1. Department of Biology, Bogor Agricultural University, Kampus IPB Darmaga, Bogor 16680, Indonesia

2. Indonesian Coconut and Palms Research Institute, Manado 1004, Indonesia

3. Indonesian Tobacco and Fiber Crops Research Institute, Malang 65152, Indonesia

Received: March 07, 2011 / Accepted: May 31, 2011 / Published: November 30, 2011.

Abstract: To find Jatropha curcas L. accessions with characteristics suitable for rootstock plants, 11 selected accessions were analyzed in response to heavy soil. Six-week-old of jatropha were grown in 11 L of entisols (M1) and grumusols (M2) soil for 10 weeks, while andosols soil richer in organic carbon were used as control media (M0). Growth of shoot and primary as well as secondary roots were observed during and at the end of the experiment. Macro and micro nutrient uptake was also analyzed at the end of experiment. M1 and M2 caused dramatically reduction of roots as well as shoot growth of all accessions. The reduction of growth component was in accordance to all nutrient uptakes except Ca and Mg. The data showed that type of soil was one of important factors influencing growth and development of J. curcas. There were 4 accessions i.e. Sumatra-1 (S1), Sumatra-2 (S2), Java-3 (J3) and Java-2 (J2) which had better roots and shoot characteristics that were potential to be used as rootstock plants. Key words: Jatropha curcas, rootstock, heavy soil.

1. Introduction

Jatropha curcas L. is one species of shrub plants that can produce oils for commercial fuel source [1-3]. Among the types of oil-producing plants, J. curcas is preferred because, beside the oil content is high, the plant is more drought resistant, fast growing, easily propagated, cheaper seed production, wider adaptability, able to produce well on fertile land or land that is critical, and the size of plants are not too large so it is easy to harvest [4-6].

Until now, the planting of jatropha in the world still faces many problems especially low seed production, so it is still not profitable [7]. In addition, even though the plants are presumed adaptable to grow under drought and lower nutrient content [1], some experiment reported that water stress significantly

Corresponding author: Hamim Hamim, Ph.D., research

field: plant physiology. E-mail: hamim@ipb.ac.id, hamimipb@gmail.com.

reduced leaf area, biomass and relative growth rate of J. curcas [8], which consequently the production will be decreased in those environments. Therefore, the studies on developing superior genotypes are very urgent, especially the plant with high production under different range of marginal lands. Nevertheless, since a broad distribution around the world, this plant has relatively high genetic variation that is possible for breeder to find superior plants with powerful characteristic to produce high yield under unfavorable environments.

Grafting is an alternative method that is able to combine two superior characters between rootstock plant that adaptable to unfavorable lands and scion plant with high productivity. Propagation and selection program by grafting aims to gain a better genetic combination, such as high production, disease resistant, resistant to bad environmental conditions, and to develop plants tolerant to a wide variety of environments [9]. This technique may be able to

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support programs to develop profitable jatropha plantations in critical lands. Providing strong rootstock with deep and high root volume is very important to support genotype with high production using grafting techniques. Using this technique the rootstocks are expected to be able to support water and nutrients required by the scion plants that have potential character to produce more seed even under suboptimum conditions.

In Indonesia, there is a wide variability of jatropha accessions with differences in canopy shape, branches, roots, and seed production [10]. Among those variations there are some accessions with deep rooting that are potential to be used as rootstock plants. These plants may be able to improve jatropha yield under suboptimal conditions if they are combined with another superior accessions in yield. Meanwhile, the selection of jatropha rootstocks is still hardly found, even though the selection to produce high yield accessions such as IP2 and IP3 which projected to produce seed more than 8 ton per hectare has been initiated by Indonesian Research Institute for Estate Crops [10, 11]. To find potential rootstock accessions that are adaptable to marginal land, these accessions need to be screened under sub optimum condition using different soil types. In this experiment the different of soil types considerably influenced growth of J. curcas indicated by difference of root as well as shoot development.

Some jatropha accessions showed better root and shoot characteristics than others indication that those accession is prospective to be used as rootstock plants.

The experiment aimed to find accessions with characteristics suitable for rootstock plants indicated by deeper and higher root density and stronger growth under suboptimum soil.

2. Method

Experiment was performed from Mar. to Nov. 2009 in Cikabayan Field Laboratory, IPB Farm, and The Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Department of Biology, Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia.

2.1 Experiment Design and the Treatments

The experiment was arranged using Completely Randomized Design with two factors. The first factor was jatropha accession. Eleven accessions of jatropha from 5 different provinces in Indonesia with characteristic potential for rootstock development were used in this experiment (Table 1). The second factor was growing media including organic soil as control (M0), stony heavy soil (M1) and clay heavy soil (M2) (Table 2). The growing media were prepared and put into the 60 cm × 60 cm plastic bags so that each bag contained 11 L of media. Five replications were applied for all treatment combinations.

Table 1 Jatropha accessions from different provinces of Indonesia and their characteristics.

Code Origin Characteristics S1 Pesisir Selatan, West Sumatra Deep rooting, big stem, many branches S2 Padang Pariaman, West Sumatra Deep rooting, big stem, many branches S3 Tanah Datar, West Sumatra Deep rooting, big stem, many branches J1 Banyumas, Central Java Deep rooting, many branches, heavy leaves J2 Binangun, Cilacap, Central Java Deep rooting, many branches, heavy leaves J3 Tegal Kamulyan, Cilacap, Central Java Deep rooting, many branches, heavy leaves B1 Sukawaris, Pandeglang, Banten Deep rooting, small stem, many braches B2 Tanjungan, Pandeglang, Banten Deep rooting, small stem, many braches B3 Cikeruh Wetan, Pandeglang, Banten Deep rooting, small stem, many braches JB Purwakarta, West Java Deep rooting, big stem, fewer branches T Tin Mining, Bangka Belitung Many branches, smaller canopy

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Tabel 2 Types and characteristic of soil for growing media treatment.

Growing media

M0 (andosol) M1 (entisol) M2 (grumusol) Chemical and physical characteristics

pH 1:1 (H2O) 4.90 6.00 5.60 Organic C (%) 6.22 (vh) 2.00 (a) 1.75 (l) Total N (%) 0.54 (h) 0.22 (a) 0.18 (l) P (ppm) 39.80 (l) 50.30 (h) 68.90 (vh) Ca (me/100g) 1.40 (l) 9.36 (a) 4.97 (l) Mg (me/100g) 0.40 (l) 1.63 (a) 2.82 (h) K (me/100g) 0.18 (l) 0.48 (a) 0.21 (l) CEC (me/100g) 24.36 (a) 21.71 (a) 24.18 (a) Fe (ppm) 0.30 0.20 8.16 Cu (ppm) 1.32 1.41 1.60 Zn (ppm) 0.36 0.32 3.28 Mn (ppm) 10.42 21.60 34.96

Texture Sand (%) 34.52 10.96 7.27 Dust (%) 33.40 38.17 42.93 Clay (%) 32.08 50.87 49.80

(l): low; (a): adequate; (h): high; (vh): very high.

2.2 Seedling Preparation and Planting

The 11 accessions were grown in nursery to prepare uniform seedlings in small plastic bags (15 × 15 cm) using media of mixed compost and soil (1:1, v/v). The seedlings were prepared for 6 weeks before transplanted to the bigger media for the treatments. The seedlings were watered every two days and fertilized using NPK (15:15:15) compound fertilizer 1 g per polybag at the beginning of planting and 1.5 g per polybag 1 month after planting.

Before planting the media including organic soil as control (M0), stony heavy soil (M1) and clay heavy soil (M2) were prepared in 40 × 40 cm polybags. After 6 weeks the seedlings were moved to the 11 L media for treatment. At the beginning of the planting, the seedlings were approximately 19.23 cm in height with 8 leaves per plant. The plants were grown in the treatment media for 10 weeks without additional fertilizer, but all the plants were watered twice a week and weeded every week.

2.3 Parameter Measurement

During the treatment growth of the plants were observed by measuring height, stem diameter, number of branches, number of leaves, and flowering. Plant height was measured from the soil to the top of the plants. After 10 weeks, all the plants were removed from the polybags for biomass measurement. Root parameters including the number, total length, diameter, and dry weight of primary and secondary roots were observed at the end of the treatment. Total root length calculated by adding all the data of root length. Macro and micro nutrient uptake were also calculated based on mineral content in the plant tissue and total biomass.

2.4 Data Analysis

Obtained data were analyzed using SPSS 15 to calculate ANOVA at α of 0.05. Comparison of the mean value among the treatments was analyzed after F test using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. To determent the best accession adapted to heavy soil in the M1, and M2, The Principal Component Analysis

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(PCA) were applied using MINITAB 15 for parameters associated to growth of the above and below ground components such as stem diameter, leaf number, plant height and canopy dry weight, and the number, length, diameter, and dry weight of the roots.

3. Results

3.1 Jatropha Response to Growing Media

There was a significantly affect of growing media to all components of the plant growth (Table 3). The growth parameters of jatropha plants decreased significantly due to application of growing media M1 and M2 as compared to M0 (control media). Meanwhile, M1 media caused a greater decrease on almost all of growth components than M2 media, except on some components of secondary root growth (Table 3). The media M1 and M2 caused decrease of plant height, leaf number and stem diameter which consequently reduced shoot dry weight significantly (Table 3).

The suppression of media M1 and M2 to plant growth was more prominent on the root (52% and 43%) than that on the shoot parameters (31% and 16% respectively). However, the reduction of shoot and root dry weight was almost similar in response to the media M1 and M2, i.e. 42% and 24% for reduction of

the shoot and 46% and 27% for the root as compared to the control M0. Among all growth parameters, the length of secondary roots was the most affected by either M1 or M2, while plant height was the least affected (Table 3).

3.2 Shoot and Root Growth of the Accessions during the Experiment

There was a variation among jatropha accessions in all components of canopy growth, except in crown dry weight (Table 4). Accession JB has the largest trunk diameter (22.4 mm), followed by the accessions J1, S3, J2, and S2 (21.14, 21.10, 20.93, and 19.73 mm) respectively. Although JB had the largest trunk diameter, but this accession had the least number of leaves (35.20 leaves). The jatropha accessions with higher number of leaves were S3 (56.60 leaves), B2 (53.87 leaves), and B3 (49.60 leaves). Accession B3 is the highest plants among other accessions during 2.5 months experiment (51.77 cm) followed by B1 (51.17 cm) and S2 (50.36).

The experiment showed that only primary roots parameters affected by jatropha accessions, while the secondary roots parameters weren’t. There was variation in total root length, root number, and root dry weight of primary root among 11 accessions (Table 5). The accessions from West Sumatra (S1 and S3)

Table 3 The effect of different growing media on the growth of canopy and root system of 11 jatropha accessions (± SD).

Growth components Growing media

M0 M1 M2 Shoot dry weight (g) 109.58 ± 23.81 c 63.43 ± 15.05 a 83.63 ± 15.47 b Stem diameter (mm) 23.89 ± 2.53 c 17.86 ± 2.04 a 19.54 ± 2.46 b Leaf number (helai) 57.40 ± 11.74 c 34.56 ± 7.14 a 47.93 ± 9.32 b Plant height (cm) 50.90 ± 7.41 c 42.91 ± 5.39 a 47.93 ± 5.16 b Root dry weight (g) 21.44 ± 3.18 c 11.58 ± 2.26 a 15.73 ± 2.97 b The number of primary roots 8.98 ± 1.80 c 4.55 ± 1.51 a 5.64 ± 1.79 b The number of secondary roots 30.64 ± 4.56 b 14.09 ± 2.17 a 16.02 ± 2.77 a The total length of primary roots (cm) 280.75 ± 46.7 c 132.73 ± 32.1 a 156.60 ± 39.6 b The total length of secondary roots (cm) 736.55 ± 93.5 b 320.38 ± 65.5 a 330.35 ± 73.6 a The diameter of primary roots (mm) 7.58 ± 1.13 c 3.33 ± 0.69 a 4.46 ± 0.71 b The diameter of secondary roots (mm) 4.99 ± 1.32 b 2.55 ± 0.78 a 2.56 ± 0.95 a

The values in the same row followed by same letters are not significantly different at 5% level based on the DMRT test.

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Table 4 Stem diameter, leaf number and plant height of 11 jatropha accessions (± SD).

Accessions Stem diameter (mm) Leaf number Plant height (cm) S1 21.53 ± 1.22 de 47.73 ± 15.16 bc 49.41 ± 3.41 ab S2 19.73 ± 3.75 abc 43.80 ± 11.40 abc 50.36 ± 3.20 c S3 21.10 ± 2.91 bcde 56.60 ± 22.16 d 41.79 ± 9.64 a J1 21.14 ± 2.67 bcde 42.13 ± 7.03 ab 45.31 ± 8.19 ab J2 20.93 ± 2.81 bcde 46.73 ± 11.40 bc 41.71 ± 8.77 a J3 21.41 ± 2.12 cde 41.13 ± 9.93 ab 47.54 ± 9.49 bc B1 19.62 ± 0.44 ab 47.73 ± 7.01 bc 51.17 ± 5.45 c B2 18.48 ± 1.59 a 53.87 ± 11.21 cd 47.95 ± 5.64 bc B3 18.52 ± 2.46 a 49.60 ± 8.11 bcd 51.77 ± 4.68 c JB 22.39 ± 1.63 e 35.20 ± 8.03 a 45.29 ± 5.37 ab T 19.86 ± 1.35 abcd 46.40 ± 11.86 bc 48.42 ± 3.70 bc

The note is the same with Table 3.

Table 5 Primary root growth parameters of 11 jatropha accessions (± SD).

Accessions Total root length (cm) Number of primary root Root dry weight (g) S1 223.73 ± 24.2 c 7.40 ± 1.00 c 17.95 ± 2.70 c S2 208.33 ± 43.8 c 6.60 ± 2.70 abc 16.10 ± 2.90 ab S3 213.60 ± 46.0 c 7.20 ± 1.73 bc 17.35 ± 1.79 bc J1 193.07 ± 37.2 abc 6.53 ± 1.00 abc 18.13 ± 3.47 c J2 191.37 ± 32.1 abc 6.47 ± 1.30 abc 15.54 ± 1.28 ab J3 195.33 ± 34.5 abc 6.67 ± 2.51 abc 15.03 ± 2.90 a B1 183.93 ± 30.3 abc 6.33 ± 1.48 abc 14.96 ± 1.22 a B2 179.37 ± 28.9 abc 5.93 ± 2.07 ab 15.65 ± 2.10 ab B3 154.87 ± 34.0 ab 5.47 ± 2.45 a 14.79 ± 0.71 a JB 199.87 ± 32.5 bc 6.20 ± 2.07 abc 18.17 ± 2.12 c T 146.80 ± 33.8 a 5.47 ± 1.00 a 15.05 ± 1.31 a

The note is the same with Table 3.

showed superior in primary root system indicated by total root length and number of primary roots, even though the highest total dry weight was gained by J1 accession. In average, the accessions T and B3 showed the weakest primary root system than the others.

The Analysis of variance showed that interaction between the media and jatropha accessions significantly affected root dry weight (Fig. 1). Media M1 and M2 dramatically decreased root dry weight of all accessions, and the decrease was more in M1 as compared to M2 except on JB and T where M1 and M2 treatments caused almost similar effect (Fig. 1). Meanwhile, there was variation root dry weight of the accessions in response to those media. The accessions of J3, S2, S1 and JB showed lower

reduction of root dry weight than the others in response to M2 (Fig. 1). However, under media M1, the accessions of B2, J1 and B3 were able to maintained root dry weight better than others (Fig. 1).

Reduction of root dry weight was due to the decrease of primary as well as secondary roots, even though the effect of the media on the reduction of secondary was more prominent than primary roots (Table 6). The primary root number decreased in average 43% due to unfavorable media, while the reduction of the secondary roots was more than 50%. In the same way, total root length also decreased approximately 48% for primary roots and more than 55% for secondary roots (Table 6, Figs. 2-5).

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0

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B1 B2 B3 J1 J2 J3 JB S1 S2 S3 T

Roo

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Jatropha Accessions

M0 M1 M2e

aab

aabaa

abab

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cc

c ccbc bc bc bc

cdcdcd cd

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Fig. 1 Root dry weight of 11 jatropha accessions in response to 3 media treatments. Table 6 Decrease of root number and total root length of primary and secondary roots of J. curcas due to the treatments (M1 and M2) as compared to M0 (mean ± SD).

The media Decrease of root number (%) Decrease of total root length (%)

Primary Secondary Primary Secondary M1 49.21 ± 7.74 53.85 ± 7.02 52.61 ± 8.04 56.28 ± 7.13 M2 36.82 ± 8.10 47.41 ± 8.02 44.26 ± 7.94 54.28 ± 7.79

The variation of primary and secondary roots was different in response to media treatments. Even though under M0 there was variation of total root length as well as root number of either primary or secondary roots, under M1 and M2, however, only primary roots exhibited variation, while secondary roots seemed almost uniform (Table 3). Based on the number of roots and total root length, many accessions such as the S1, S2 and J3 had better rooting system than the others under suppression of media M1 and M2. On the other hand, some accessions including T, B1 and B2 underwent greeter reduction of rooting system due to M1 as well as M2 (Figs. 2-5).

3.3 Nutrient Uptake

Nutrient uptake by plants generally also lower in the media M1 and M2 as compared to control (M0), except for Ca and Mg that were similar or even higher under

media M2 than the control (Table 7). Absorption of potassium was the most inhibited due to media treatment that caused reduction up to 80.65% and 63.66% respectively in response to M1 and M2. On the other hand, accumulation of Ca was increasing up to 33.72% in M2, while in M1 the uptake of this nutrient was still reduced by 34.4%.

The accession influenced macro- and micronutrients uptake significantly, but there was no interaction between media and accessions. For macronutrients, N and K were among the highest accumulated nutrient, while for micronutrient Fe was the highest. The accession S1 was superior in uptake of all nutrients, except in Ca and Mg, while B1, J2 and T were the most inferior in nutrient absorption (Table 8). There was positive and a good correlation between N and P accumulation of all accession (R2 = 0.75), but the correlation between N and Ca was tended to be negative (R2 = 0.22).

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B1 B2 B3 J1 J2 J3 JB S1 S2 S3 T

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cc

aa

aab

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Fig. 2 The number of primary roots of 11 jatropha accessions in response to different media treatments.

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B1 B2 B3 J1 J2 J3 JB S1 S2 S3 T

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c

ab

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ab ababab

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Fig. 3 The number of secondary roots of 11 jatropha accessions in response to different media treatments.

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B1 B2 B3 J1 J2 J3 JB S1 S2 S3 T

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de

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Fig. 4 Total primary root length of 11 jatropha accessions in response to different media treatments.

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cdd

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bab

b

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Fig. 5 Total secondary root length of 11 jatropha accessions in response to different media treatments. Tabel 7 The average of nutrient (macro and micro) uptake of 11 accessions in response to the media (M0, M1 and M2), and comparison of M1 and M2 to the control media (M0).

Nutrients Macronutrients uptake (g/pot)

Nutrient Micronutrients uptake (mg/pot)

M0 M1 M2 M0 M1 M2

N 4.09 ± 0.77c 1.90 ± 0.33 a 2.62 ± 0.61 b Fe 45.36 ± 9.90 c 17.95 ± 8.35 a 24.41 ± 8.48 b

P 0.43 ± 0.06 c 0.27 ± 0.04 a 0.34 ± 0.05 b Cu 13.56 ± 2.59 b 6.32 ± 1.97 a 6.46 ± 1.98 a

K 2.70 ± 0.99 c 0.52 ± 0.06 a 0.98 ± 0.29 b Zn 31.56 ± 6.42 c 10.52 ± 3.12 a 12.83 ± 2.32 b

Ca 0.59 ± 0.13 b 0.38 ± 0.08 a 0.78 ± 0.32 c

Mg 0.27 ± 0.03 b 0.19 ± 0.02 a 0.25 ± 0.03 b

The note is the same with Table 3.

Tabel 8 The variation of macro- and micronutrient uptake of 11 accessions (± SD).

Accessions Macro nutrients Micro nutrients

N P K Ca Mg Fe Cu Zn

S1 3.60 ± 1.03 c 0.40 ± 0.11 b 1.72 ± 0.52 de 0.46 ± 0.13 a 0.26 ± 0.07 a 37.79 ± 11.3 b 10.82 ± 3.12 cd 23.44 ± 6.92 c

S2 2.77 ± 0.91 ab 0.38 ± 0.12 ab 1.63 ± 0.50 de 0.44 ± 0.15 a 0.26 ± 0.08 a 29.84 ± 9.42 a 8.90 ± 3.03 bc 20.53 ± 6.71 bc

S3 3.41 ± 1.01 bc 0.39 ± 0.11 ab 1.91 ± 0.62 e 0.44 ± 0.13 a 0.25 ± 0.07 a 29.46 ± 9.33 a 9.15 ± 2.85 bc 19.46 ± 6.09 bc

J1 3.10 ± 0.93 abc 0.37 ± 0.11 ab 1.79 ± 0.52 de 0.66 ± 0.20 bc 0.24 ± 0.07 a 31.68 ± 9.31 ab 7.67 ± 2.23 ab 18.85 ± 5.47 bc

J2 2.44 ± 0.45 a 0.30 ± 0.06 a 1.45 ± 0.22 cd 0.63 ± 0.13 bc 0.23 ± 0.04 a 25.00 ± 4.14 a 8.00 ± 1.29 ab 17.89 ± 2.90 b

J3 2.72 ± 0.72 ab 0.33 ± 0.09 ab 1.54 ± 0.45 de 0.63 ± 0.16 bc 0.23 ± 0.06 a 25.08 ± 6.69 a 9.00 ± 2.49 bc 16.62 ± 4.64 b

B1 2.40 ± 0.49 a 0.32 ± 0.07 ab 1.15 ± 0.25 bc 0.55 ± 0.10 ab 0.21 ± 0.04 a 26.34 ± 5.26 a 8.44 ± 1.77 b 17.45 ± 3.74 b

B2 2.87 ± 0.75 ab 0.35 ± 0.10 ab 1.69 ± 0.42 de 0.66 ± 0.19 bc 0.23 ± 0.06 a 24.16 ± 6.16 a 9.30 ± 2.45 bcd 18.22 ± 4.67 b

B3 2.73 ± 0.73 ab 0.31 ± 0.08 a 0.68 ± 0.19 a 0.71 ± 0.21 cd 0.23 ± 0.06 a 31.45 ± 7.94 ab 7.94 ± 2.17 ab 17.11 ± 4.88 b

JB 2.66 ± 0.70 a 0.32 ± 0.09 ab 0.93 ± 0.22 ab 0.81 ± 0.11 d 0.25 ± 0.06 a 29.63 ± 7.87 a 11.36 ± 1.54 d 19.65 ± 3.04 bc

T 2.91 ± 0.63 ab 0.35 ± 0.08 ab 0.92 ± 0.22 ab 0.45 ± 0.18 a 0.23 ± 0.06 a 31.22 ± 8.41 ab 5.94 ± 3.06 a 12.14 ± 5.23 a

The note is the same with Table 3.

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3.4 Grouping of J. Curcas Accessions Using PCA Analysis

To find the prospective accessions for rootstock, growth parameters as response to media treatments were analyzed using Principle Component Analysis (PCA). The values used in PCA analysis were the comparative value of each canopy and root growth parameters in M1 or M2 compared to M0. The accessions with bigger relative parameters indicated that they were less influenced by the media treatments.

Based on PCA Analysis, in media M1 there are four groups of accessions based on the relative growth component. Group 1 consisted of the accession B3, S2, and S1. This group had better canopy dry weight, and secondary root number, total length and diameter than the others. The second group occupied by J2 and J3 with better growth in leaf number, stem diameter, root dry weight, and primary root number, length and diameter. The third group was occupied by B1 and T that most affected by M1 media that resulted in

inferior growth, and fourth group consisted of the accessions of B2, JB, J1, and S3, characterized by better in plant height (Fig. 6).

In media of M2 the jatropha accessions spread in four groups based on distribution of growth component. Group-1 assigned by accessions of S2, JB, J3 and S1. This group had a better growth in diameter, number, and total root length of primary root, secondary root diameter, stem diameter and plant height. In the second group there was only J2 that was characterized by a better parameter of leaf number, number and total length of secondary roots, root dry weight, and canopy dry weight. The third group was occupied by the accessions of J1 and B3, while the forth group was S3, B1, T and B2. The last two groups of J. accessions were the most suppressed by the media of M2 (Fig. 7).

4. Discussion

4.1 Jatropha Response to Growing Media

J. curcas can grow well on the land with a wide range of characteristics and is recommended to be able

First Component

Seco

nd C

ompo

nent

Fig. 6 Two-dimensional plot of Principle Component Analysis of 11 jatropha accessions between the first and second Principle Components on medium M1. T: high; DB: stem diameter; JD: number of leaves; BKT: dry weight of canopy; PAP: total primary root length; PAS: the total length of secondary roots; DAP: primary root diameter; DAS: diameter of secondary roots; JAP: number of primary roots; JAS: number of secondary roots; BKA: root dry weight.

-5.0 -2.5 0.0 2.5 5.0

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First Component

Seco

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Fig. 7 Two-dimensional plot of Principle Component Analysis of 11 jatropha accessions between the first and second Principle Components on medium M2. The note is the same with Fig. 6.

to adapt to dry areas as well as to marginal lands [1, 12]. However, types of growing media presented in Table 2 significantly (P < 0.05) decreased all growth components of jatropha accessions (Table 3). This data suggested that the type of soil or growing media is one of important limiting factors for growth and development of jatropha plantation. The media M1 that caused the most growth suppression, was stony entisol soil with higher degree of clay component, while M2 was grumusol soil with high clay, lower organic carbon and nitrogen content (Table 2). The most different properties between these two growing media with M0 (control) were the soil texture, organic materials and nitrogen content. Because during the treatment there was no any additional inorganic as well as organic fertilizer, the plants grown in M1 and M2 underwent suppressed.

Basically, jatropha plant is type of plant that grows very well on the porous, sandy soil with adequate organic materials [1]. Therefore, this plant was suppressed under hard and heavy soil like these entisols and grumusols soil. In heavy soils, root formation is reduced [1], which resulted in the

decrease of total plant growth. Entisols and Grumusols (Vertisols) are among the type of soils with low organic materials, and in vertisols this character becomes major constraints affecting the productivity of these soils [13]. Physical properties of vartisols such as lower water availability, shrink-swell movement, deep cracking, and compaction still pose a problem [14]. These conditions resulted in reduced the dry weight, number and length primary as well as secondary roots significantly (Figs. 1-5). Therefore addition of organic matter such as farmyard manure improved physical characteristics of the soil through better aggregation, increased saturated hydraulic conductivity, reduced mechanical resistance and bulk density as reported [13] in Indian vertisols soil.

There was different growth pattern among accessions grown in M1 and M2, where M1 (Entisols, Cikampak) caused more significant growth reduction than M2 (Grumusols, Cihea). This was related to the difference in soil properties between the media. In M2 (Grumusol, Cihea), this medium was free from stones, while in M1 (Entisol Cikampak) the medium not only composed heavy soil but also gravel stones. The

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presence of stone in M1 may cause mechanical pressure that inhibited root growth and elongation, and reduced water availability, since the plants were watered twice a week.

4.2 Potential Jatropha Accessions for Rootstock Based on Principle Component Analysis

Among 11 accessions, there was variation of growth (Tables 4 and 5) and their response to the media (M1 and M2). This variation is important for genetic resources to find superior rootstock potential for marginal lands. Two-dimensional plot (biplot) was applied to distinguish accessions with higher degree of shoot and root growth components recorded from M1 and M2 media relative to those of the plants grown in control media. Based on Beplot analysis as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, showed that there were some accessions with relatively better characteristics compared to the others. Using this Analysis we found 5 accessions with higher performance of growth in response to entisol soil (M1), i.e. B3, S2, and S1 which had better shoot dry weight, secondary root number, total length and diameter and J2 and J3 with better growth in leaf number, stem diameter, root dry weight, and primary root number, length and diameter than others (Fig. 6).

In media M2, the Jatropha accessions of S2, JB, J3 and S1 had a better growth in diameter, number, and total root length of primary root, secondary root diameter, stem diameter and plant height, while the J2 characterized by a better parameter of leaf number, number and total length of secondary roots, root dry weight, and canopy dry weight than the others (Fig. 4).

The development of root system is important to provide the plant adequate nutrients and water in accordance with the needs of plants [15]. Therefore emphasizing root development during growth is important for rootstock plant. Hartmann, Kester and Davies [16] also suggested that the criteria of rootstock plant must have good root system, resistant to unfavorable soil conditions, ability to adapt or grow compatible with scion, capability sustaining growth ,

and resistant to pests and diseases in the soil. Among those accessions, S1 was the best accessions that showed superior in roots as well as shoot growth under those suboptimum media.

5. Conclusion

Type of soil was one of important factors influencing growth and development of J. curcas, where without additional organic matter, heavy soil like grumusols and entisols caused significant decrease of root as well as shoot growth. Based on Beplot Analysis on all growth components, there were 4 accessions i.e. S1, S2, J3 and J2 which had better roots and shoot characteristics as compared to the others under heavy soils. These accessions are potential to be used as rootstock plants.

Acknowledgment

The authors thank to the Program of Collaboration Research Partnership between The Department of Agriculture and Directorate General of Higher Education (KKP3T) that has funded this research during 2009.

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