Selection, variation and heritability of candidate plus trees (CPT’s) of Salix alba

Clonal trial of 100 CPT’s of Salix alba was laid out in common garden experiment at Faculty of Forestry nursery, SKUAST-K. Wide variation was recorded for all the CPT’s of Salix alba with respect to various morphometric (growth, biomass and leaf) characters. Maximum values of growth, biomass and leaf characters were registered by CPT-26, CPT-53, CPT-56, CPT-75, CPT-37 and CPT-45. Genetic parameters estimated for the clonal material revealed fair differences between PCV and GCV. High heritability was registered by all the characters with maximum (0.982) for shoot height which was followed by high to moderate genetic gain indicating additive gene action. Correlation coefficient analysis revealed strong and positive association between most of the growth, biomass and leaf traits with maximum genotypic (0.874) and phenotypic (0.849) correlation between collar diameter and volume index.