TITLE:
Rooting Response of Air-Layered Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) Trees to Media and Hormonal Application under Two Different Climatic Conditions
AUTHORS:
Julius Yeboah, Ben Kwaku Branoh Banful, Peter Yaw Boateng, Frank Manu Amoah, Bonaventure Kissinger Maalekuu, Samuel Tetteh Lowor
KEYWORDS:
Vitellaria paradoxa; Rooting; IBA Auxin; Palm Fibre; Sphagnum Peat Moss; Air-Layering
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.5 No.9,
April
4,
2014
ABSTRACT: Shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn. Family; Sapotaceae)
indigenous to the Sudano-sahelian zone of Africa has great economic and ecological
potential and attributes. Commercial cultivation of the tree is however, hampered
by the poor rooting success of its planting material with adverse consequences
on field establishment and total fruit yield. A 3 × 2 factorial experiment
arranged in a randomized complete block design was carried out in 2012 at Bole
in the Interior Savanna agro-ecological zone. The objective was to assess the
rooting success of Shea shoots by the air-layering technique using two media
types (palm fibre and Sphagnum moss)
and three IBA hormone concentrations (0, 5000 and 10,000 ppm) under contrasting
climatic (wet and dry) conditions. Layered shoots which were sprayed with
10,000 ppm IBA and wrapped with Sphagnum moss gave significantly (P Sphagnum moss treated
with 10,000 ppm IBA facilitated the translocation of higher levels of sugar and
total free phenol (TFP) to the base of the layered shoots which resulted in
significantly (P 2 = 82%, p 2 = 64.5%, p 2 = 89%, p = 0.002; n = 9). Furthermore,
significant and positive correlations were found between IBA concentration
level and simple sugars (r = 0.99; P Sphagnum moss treated with 10,000 ppm of
IBA hormone should be used and the whole set up carried out in the wet season.