Grafting in Azadirachta indica (A. Juss) and its Early Flowering Responses

A study was conducted to assess the flowering responses inAzadirachta indica through various methods of grafting. In this study three methods of grafting (Cleft grafting, Side grafting and Budding) were tried. Among these, cleft grafting was found most sucessful for A. indica. It was also found that cleft grafting gives better and early flowering responses than other methods after three years of grafting. Neem is a slow growing species from seeds and takes more than 15 years to attain flowering and seed production. The study shows that it can be minimized through grafting.