IJLST 2017 Volume 10 Issue 10
International Journal of Life Sciences and Technology (IJLST) ISSN: 0974-5335
An Open Access Journal -- NO Fees -- NO Processing Charges -- 100% Non Profit Initiatives
Seedlings growth performance of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. seeds collected from avenue plantation. Zia-ur-Rehman Farooqi, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Shafiq, Mohammad Athar and Muhammad Kabir. IJLST (2017), 10(10):86-92
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Title:
Seedlings growth performance of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. seeds collected from avenue plantation
Authors & Affiliation:
Zia-ur-Rehman Farooqi1, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal2, Muhammad Shafiq3, Mohammad Athar4 and Muhammad Kabir5
1-5 Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi- 75270, Pakistan
4 California Department of Food & Agriculture, 3288 Meadowview Road, Sacramento, CA 95832, U.S.A
farooqi_bot@yahoo.com, mziqbalbotuokpk@yahoo.com, mziqbalbot@gmail.com, shafiqeco@yahoo.com, athar.tariq@cdfa.ca.gov, kabir_botany82@yahoo.com
Abstract:
The discharges of different types of pollutants due to automobile exhaust emission are widely believed to have detrimental effects on plant growth. The effects of automobile exhaust emission on the seedling growth performance of Azadirachta indica A. Juss avenue tree was observed. Poor germination and seedling establishment are major problems in arid and semi-arid environments, and these characteristics are considered to be important factors in later plant growth and yield especially for plants growing in the polluted environment. The seeds germination behavior of A. indica seeds collected from both polluted (Avenue planting) and less polluted environment (fields) was investigated. Growth performance of polluted and less polluted area seeds showed a great variation in different growth variables in natural field conditions. Root length and leaf area of polluted environment seeds were significantly (p<0.05) reduced as compared to the seeds of the less polluted areas. Shoot length, seedling size, number of leaves, circumference and seedling dry biomass were significantly (p<0.05) declined in polluted area seeds when compared with the seeds of less polluted areas. Moreover, root/shoot ratio and specific leaf area were promoted from the seeds of polluted areas. Leaf weight ratio was significantly low in the seeds of polluted areas. The seeds of the less polluted environment significantly maintained leaf area ratio in comparison with the seedlings grown from the seeds of the polluted areas. Tolerance test showed that seedling growth of A. indica showed lowest percentage of tolerance in seeds collected from Shahrah-e-Faisal (63.61%) followed by University road (71.09%), North Nazimabad (78.15%) and Shaheed-e-Millat road (98.31%) as compared to University Campus.
Key words: Avenue plantation, Azadirachta indica seeds, Karachi, polluted areas, seedling growth