First year growth variation in some selected clones of Populus deltoides in Himachal Pradesh

The present study was conducted to evaluate early growth performance of 33 local clones of Populus deltoides under mid hills conditions of Himachal Pradesh. The clones were procured from clonal selections from various sources from India as well as many hybrids were prepared and planted under Randomized Block Design (RBD) in experimental farm of Dr. Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. One year growth was recorded and analyzed for height, diameter and genetic parameters. Significant variation was recorded for diameter and height growth among different clones. Both diameter and height growth traits showed moderate values for heritability and genetic advance indicating good scope of early selection for these traits in these clones. Clones OP-8, FS-74 and HYB-3 were found best in terms of evaluated traits.