Nursery Performance of Exotic Poplars under Mid-hill Conditions of Himachal Pradesh

In search of Poplar clones superior than present commercial ones 63 clones of Populus deltoides and 5 clones of Populus x euramericana were tried in nursery under mid-hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh to test their suitability. The clones namely 181, L-75/84, L-71/84, PS-708, L-200/84, 110702 and Populus x euramericana were found to be the better performers in comparison to other clones under study. Further the growth trend in different seasons show that the maximum height and collar diameter growth of all better performer clones was attained during rainy season except the Populus x euramericana clone. The field performance of the best nursery performer clones is under investigation for their commercialization and large scale incorporation into future plantation programmes of mid-hills.