Assessing the Performance of Pongamia pinnata (l.) Pierre under Ex-situ Condition in Karnataka

Pongamia (Pongamia pinnata L.) as a source of non-edible oil, is potential tree species for biodiesel production. For several reasons, both technical and economical, the potential of P. pinnata is far from being realized. The exploitation of genetic diversity for crop improvement has been the major driving force for the exploration and ex situ/in situ conservation of plant genetic resources. However, P. pinnata improvement for high oil and seed production is not achieved because of unsystematic way of tree improvement. Performance of P. pinnata planted by Karnataka Forest Department was assessed based on yield potential by collecting 157 clones out of 264 clones established by Karnataka Forest Department research wing under different research circles/ranges. It was evident that the all the seed and pod traits were significantly different. Further, selection of superior germplasm based on oil and pod/seed parameters was achieved by application of Mahalanobis statistics and Tocher's technique. On the basis of D² values for all possible 253 pairs of populations the 157 genotypes were grouped into 28 clusters. The clustering pattern showed that geographical diversity is not necessarily related to genetic diversity. Cluster means indicated a wide range of variation for all the pod and seed traits. The best cluster having total oil content of more than 34.9% with 100 seed weight of above 125 g viz. Cluster I, II, III, IX, XV, XIX, XXI, XXIII, XXVI and XXVII were selected for clonal propagation.