ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Gas Exchange Characteristics and Water Use Efficiency in Eucalyptus Clones

The Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore, India functioning under the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehara Dun, has a long term systematic tree improvement programme in Eucalyptus spp. aimed to enhancing productivity and screening of clones for site specific. In the process, twenty four clones of Eucalyptus spp. were studied for the physiological parameters and water use efficiency from the established clonal trials. It also provides valuable information for establishing plantations at different geographic locations. Considerable variations were observed when the selected 24 clones of Eucalyptus spp. were subjected to physiological and WUE studies. The clones of C-188, C-186, C-14, C-10, C-123 and C-19 are falls in one cluster and the water use efficiency values are lower when compared to other clones and these clones are ranked first for high water use efficient clones for better productivity. Further, the clonal variation in physiological parameters and water use efficiency are discussed in detail in this article and clones suitable for large scale planting with higher productivity and WUE.