Evaluation of open pollinated families of Dalbergia sissoo A step toward genetic improvement

Present investigation was carried out as an effort for genetic improvement of Dalbergia sissoo. Analysis of variance revealed significant variation for all the characters under study viz., seedling height, collar diameter, dry weight of leaves, leaf area, nutritional attributes and biochemical attributes.Family no. 25 (Jassur) was found best for nitrogen content, family no. 34 (Khurian) for phosphorus content and family no, 32 (Dhuk) for potassium content; family no. 28 and 25 were superior for total sugars and total phenols content. Seedling height showed higher heritability coupled with high genetic gain. The highly significant correlation between seedling height and collar diameter, dry weight of leaves and nitrogen content suggests that these characters can also be utilized for indirect selection. Cluster analysis showed distinct clustering pattern.