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North American Academic Research

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Research

Standardization of Rootstock Age on Epicotyl Grafting in Off-season

Jackfruit

Md. Sadiqur Rahman1*, AKM Azad2, Monjur Morshed3, Taslima Jahan 4, Dr. Md. Alamgir

Hossain5, Fabiha Haque6

1Scientific Officer, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Bangladesh Agricultural

Research Institute, Moulvibazar, Bangladesh 2Research Officer, Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, Moulvibazar, Bangladesh 3,6MS student, Department of Soil Science, Bangbandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural

University, Bangladesh 4Scientific Officer, Plant Genetic Resources Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research

Institute, Bangladesh 5Principal Scientific Officer, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Bangladesh

Agricultural Research Institute, Moulvibazar, Bangladesh

*Corresponding Author :

Md. S. Rahman

Email: saadikrahman1971@gmail.com

Mobile: 01714492070

Published online : 05 March, 2019

Abstract: An experiment was conducted at thenursery of the Regional Agricultural Research

Station, Akbarpur, Moulvibazar, Bangladesh in August’ 2017 to standardize the age of

rootstock on the success of epicotyl grafting in offseason jackfruit. The experiment consisted

of four types of rootstocks viz., 10, 14, 18 and 22 days old seedlings, laid out in RCBD with

three replications. The results revealed that 10 days old rootstock was more suitable for

epicotyl grafting in offseason jackfruit as it provided more survival rate and subsequent

growth of grafts having the better healing process of the graft union.

Keywords: Rootstock age, epicotyl grafting, off-season jackfruit

Introduction

Jackfruit is a cross-pollinated crop and is habitually propagated through seed (Samaddar,

1990) which ultimately follow-on a number of heterozygous trees throughout the country. To

get true to type plant, vegetative propagation is the only way (Bose and Mitra, 1990). But

still, from different research works jackfruit is considered as a more difficult species to

propagate by vegetative means compared to other fruit plants. The main reason is possibly

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due to its latex, which hinders the normal process of callus formation and ultimately the graft

union (Soepadmo, 1991). Cutting could not be an acceptable method for commercial

propagation of jackfruit due to a high rate of mortality. Air layering and budding are also

considered as a very hard method as the success rate is very low (Rowe Dutton, 1976). On

the other hand, layering requires growth hormone for root initiation. Recently, the success of

epicotyl and cleft grafting has been reported by a number of authors (Jose and Velsalakumari,

1991; Kuddus, 2001). Among the different important factors affecting the success of grafting,

time and method of grafting, the age of rootstock and scion are very important for tropical

fruit plants like mango and jackfruit (Islam et al., 2004; Kumar et al., 2000; Azad, 1999).

Grafting of scion on the germinating seedling referred to as epicotyl grafting has been

successfully using as an efficient, economic and rapid method for propagation of mango and

other fruit trees. The advantage of the epicotyl grafting is that the germinating seedlings are

in juvenile condition and the cells have the potentiality of quick differentiation and thus play

a vital role in the success of graft union. The success of epicotyl grafting depends on different

factors such as temperature, relative humidity, light, soil moisture, age of rootstock, time and

method of grafting and the skill of the grafter. Considering the idea, an attempt had been

undertaken to investigate the vegetative propagation of jackfruit through epicotyl grafting to

determine the ideal age of rootstock, the percentage of success and survival, days required to

bud break and growth of grafts of epicotyl grafting of offseason jackfruit.

Materials and Methods

Epicotyl grafting of offseason jackfruit was subjected to four different ages of rootstock

namely 10 days, 14 days, 18 days and 22 days to standardize the age of rootstock on the

success of epicotyl grafting in offseason jackfruit. Trials were carried out in nursery of the

Regional Agricultural Research Station, Akbarpur, Moulvibazar, Bangladesh in August’

2017. Poly bag of 6x8 cm size was filled with soil and decomposed cowdung mixture at a

ratio of 1:1; seedlings were raised in the polybag at the nursery. A single seed was dibbed at 1

cm depth horizontally on 1 August, 2017 and was continued at different successive days in

order to get 10, 14, 18 and 22 days old seedlings at particular grafting time.

Scions with deep green leaves were selected from healthy, vigorous and actively growing

shoots of 13 years old Accession No. Ah−Akb−001(OS) from the nursery of the RARS,

Moulvibazar. Rootstocks were used from BARI Jackfruit-1. The single factor experiment

consisting of four levels of age of rootstocks was laid out in RCBD with three replicat ions.

Each replication had consisted of ten grafts.

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The prepared grafts were placed under shade and maintained in good condition by watering,

removal of polythene cap and sheet after sprouting. Data on rootstock height, number of

successful grafts, the average time required to first flash and first leaf were calculated from

the date of operation. Growth of the grafts (scion height, number of leaves, leaf length and

leaf breadth) were recorded at 30 day’s interval up to 120 days after grafting operation.

The number of successful grafts (%) was counted just after bud break and computed it by

using the following formula:

Success grafts (%) =

Number of successful grafts

……………………………

X 100

Total number of graftage done

The percentage of survival grafts was estimated at the end of 120 days by using the

following formula

Survival rate (%) =

Total number of grafts Success-Total number dead grafts

………………………………………………………………..

X 100

Total number of successful grafts

Data were collected on various parameters as mentioned in the tables and differences of the

mean treatments were compared by LSD test using R Stat software.

Results and Discussion

Percentage of success and survival:

Age of rootstock significantly influenced on the success and survival of epicotyl grafting of

offseason jackfruit where rootstock height was increased with the age of rootstock. The

highest success (100%) was recorded with 14 days old rootstock which was statistically

similar with 10 days (97.77%) but the variation of survival rate was noticed among the

rootstock ages. The highest survival percent (73.26%) was recorded from the 10 days old

rootstock which statistically varied with all others. The highest percentage of survival graft

was found throughout the first 120 days when the age of the rootstock was 10 days old. This

finding might be due to the combining ability of the scion bud with the rootstock which

decreased with the increase of the rootstock age.

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Table 1. Rootstock height and effect of rootstock age on the percentage of success, days

to first flash and first leaf, and percentage of survival.

The highest success with 14 days old rootstock might be due to the preservation of more food

materials in cotyledon and actively growing stage of rootstock that enhanced grafting union.

The success trend of graft in the experiment was in agreement with the findings of Jose and

Velsalakumary (1991) who recorded that 29.5% success in epicotyl grafting of jackfruit using

5 days old rootstock and 61.67% using 15 days old rootstock.

Days required to first flash and first leaf:

Age of rootstocks had a significant influence on the days required to first flash and first leaf

opening of the grafts. Grafting operation done with 22 days old rootstock took the lowest

time to first flash and first leaf opening (14 days and 18 days, respectively), whereas it was

the highest (18 days and 22 days, respectively) in case of 10 days and 14 days old rootstock

(Table 1).

Subsequent growth of the grafts:

Fig 1. Performance of different age of rootstock on the subsequent growth of the grafts.

Age of

rootstock

Rootstock

height (cm)

Success

(%)

Survival

(%)

Days to

first flash

Days to

first leaf

10 days 6.33 97.77 73.26 18 22

14 days 9.67 100.00 45.51 18 22

18 days 11.66 62.19 41.07 17 20

22 days 12.33 64.38 32.19 14 18

CV(%) 11.39 4.03 8.87 10.82 9.1

LSD (0.05) 2.27 6.54 8.51 3.13 2.65

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Significant variation was found in the growth of scion height with time (in all cases initial

scion height was 6.00 cm). The increasing rate of scion height was the lowest in 10 days old

rootstock up to 30 DAG, but with the increasing of time, the growth rate was found the

highest in 10 days old rootstock in continuous progress. In the case of 14 days old rootstock

the increasing rate of scion height was the lowest up to 90 DAG then it increased rapidly up

to 120 DAG. The lowest growth rate was found in 18 days old rootstock. The above graph

showed that the age of rootstock had a significant influence on vegetative growth of the graft

(Fig 1).

Table 2. Performance of different age of rootstock on the number of leaves and leaves

length and breadth

Age of

rootstock

Number of leaves Length of leaves (cm) Breadth of leaves (cm)

60

DAG

90

DAG

120

DAG

60

DAG

90

DAG

120

DAG

60

DAG

90

DAG

120

DAG

10 days 5.66 9.00 10.66 7.27 9.44 12.60 4.88 5.32 5.73

14 days 5.00 7.00 9.00 6.23 7.84 8.75 3.66 4.15 5.21

18 days 2.66 4.67 6.00 9.27 9.68 9.75 3.73 4.75 4.75

22 days 4.67 5.66 7.33 4.89 6.09 6.96 3.00 3.47 3.51

CV(%) 32.04 36.48 32.74 13.32 14.46 16 14.09 7.13 13.18

LSD

(0.05) 2.88 4.79 5.39 1.84 2.38 3.04 1.07 0.63 1.26

The number of leaves per graft did not vary significantly with the age of rootstock. The

highest number of leaves per graft was recorded in 10 days old rootstock and the lowest was

recorded in 18 days old rootstock in all through the data recording stages viz. 60 DAG, 90

DAG, and 120 DAG. Though early bud breaking was recorded in 22 days old rootstock but

the number of leaves and scion height was recorded the highest later in 10 days old

rootstock.

The largest leaves (maximum length and breadth) were obtained in grafting operation at 10

days old rootstock probably due to maximum cell division. Length of leaves was found to be

the highest (7.27, 9.44 and, 12.60 cm) in the grafts done at 10 days old rootstock which was

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closely followed by 18 days old rootstock (9.27, 9.68 and, 9.75 cm) at 60 DAG, 90 DAG and,

120 DAG. On the other hand, the lowest (4.89, 6.09 and, 6.96 cm) was recorded in 22 days

old rootstock. And the highest breadth of the leaf (4.88, 5.32 and, 5.73 cm) was recorded in

10 days old rootstock and the lowest (3.00, 3.47 and, 3.51 cm) was recorded in 22 days old

rootstock on 60 DAG, 90 DAG and, 120 DAG, respectively.

Conclusion

Considering the parameters, it was observed from this research work that 10 days old

rootstock was more suitable for epicotyl grafting in offseason jackfruit as it provided more

survival rate and subsequent growth of grafts, and can be assumed that 10 days old rootstock

might be associated with the better healing process of the graft union.

References

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Dissertation. University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. 158 p.

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© 2019 by the authors. TWASP, NY, USA. Author/authors are fully responsible for the text, figure, data in above pages. This

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