RESPONSE OF OLIVE CULTIVARS TO ROOTING THROUGH AIR LAYERING IN DIFFERENT GROWTH MEDIA

An experiment on ‘Response of olive cultivars to rooting through air layering in different growth media” was conducted at Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa research facility at Tarnab, Peshawar, Pakistan during 2010. Air layering was done in June on different cultivars (Coratina, Leccino, Pendalino, Baincullela, Uslu and Sevalino) in different media (sawdust, silt, garden soil and sawdust +silt +garden soil). The experiment was laid out on a randomized complete block designs with split plot arrangements having three replications. The research revealed significantly different results for days to rooting, number of roots per plant, root length, root diameter and percent survival among the cultivars. Similarly different growth media also significantly affected most of the parameters studied. Maximum root length (3.35cm), root diameter (0.15cm) percent survival (60%) and minimum days to rooting were recorded for cultivar Coratina (28), while, the maximum days to rooting were noted in cultivar Baincullela (37). However, the minimum number of roots plant^-1 (5.16), root length (2.31cm), root diameter (0.12cm) and percent survival (42.50%) were recorded in cultivar Baincullela. As regards the effect of different media, the maximum number of roots (8.27), root length (3.28cm), root diameter (0.15cm) and percent survival (67.22%), and minimum days to rooting (27.11) were recorded in silt. While, the minimum number of roots plant^-1 (5.22), root length (2.03cm), root diameter (0.11cm), percent survival (37.22%), and maximum days to rooting (37.22) were observed in sawdust media. On the basis of these results cultivar Coratina and Silt as a rooting medium were found thebest and hence recommended for rooting of olive cultivars through air layering.