during the winter season 2016-2017. The research was arranged in randomized complete block design with nine treatments of organic manures in combination with NPK fertilizers having three replications. The highest yield was recorded with T9 treatment (N: P: K 100:50:50+FYM@8 ton per hectare). Plant height at harvesting, number of branches plant-1 , number of fruits plant-1 , fruit width, fruit length and fruit weight increased significantly with T 9 treatment (N: P: K 100:50:50+FYM@8 ton per hectare). Similarly application of NPK100%+FYM@8 ton per hectare increased oleoresin yield and ascorbic acid content. Application of FYM@8 ton per hectare in combination with NPK100% increased the uptake of nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, S, and Fe) as compared to control. Similar results were also found in other organic manures along with inorganic fertilizer. The highest net return (Rs. 30183 per hectare) was achieved with the application of NPK100%+FYM@8 ton per hectare followed by NPK100%+ PM@6 ton per hectare, NPK100%+VC@10 ton per hectare and NPK100%+C@7 ton per hectare.

Bird pollination in Asia is regarded as an uncommon phenomenon and, therefore, only a few investigations on mating pattern and paternity in fruits of Asian bird-pollinated plants have been conducted. Here, we examined spatial genetic structure, pollen dispersal, and multiple paternity in a natural population of Bombax ceiba (B. ceiba) (Malvaceae) in Hainan Island, South China, using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. A low genetic diversity (He = 0.351 ± 0.0341 and 0.389 ± 0.043, respectively, for adults and offspring) and bottleneck effects were observed. Genetic kinship was significant within 400 m or in 1,800–3,800 m. Both the mating pattern and paternity analysis confirmed obligate xenogamy and a low multiple paternity in B. ceiba. There was a strongly negative relationship between the frequency of matings and the distance between mating pairs. The average pollen dispersal distance was 202.89 ± 41.01 m (mean ± SE) and the farthest distance of > 1 km was recorded. Realized mating events showed an extremely leptokurtic distribution within 1,200 m, suggesting that the pollen dispersal distance was consistent with the optimal foraging theory of generalist birds such as Zosterops spp. and Pycnonotus spp. Paternity per tree ranged from two to six and the average effective number of pollen donors per maternal plant was 3.773, suggesting a low level of paternity diversity as compared to other bird-pollinated plants. We concluded that optimal foraging behavior by generalist birds could explain the leptokurtic pollen dispersal distribution and predominantly near-neighbor matings in B. ceiba. The limited pollen dispersal distance and low multiple paternity were consistent with low fruit setting rate (3.27 ± 0.93%) in this self-incompatible tree, which was caused mainly by the restricted flight distance of birds and human disturbances. Low genetic diversity and significant spatial genetic structure might have largely resulted from logging and human collection of fruits.

Bombax ceiba is a tall tree species with predominantly red flowers and is normally pollinated by birds. In some populations, a yellow flowered variety occurs. Honeybees frequently visit these uncommon yellow flowers but how this adaptation affects the life history of this variant remains unexplored. In the present study, floral syndrome and pollination mechanism of yellow flowers were compared with red flowers of B. ceiba populations on Hainan Island, southern China. The results showed that main nectar components of two floral phenotypes are both glucose and fructose dominated, and the volatile chemicals are mainly alkanes, esters, phenols and acids with no significant difference between the two phenotypes. The relative spectral reflectance showed that both birds and honeybees could detect the yellow flowers, suggesting visitation by honeybees can compensate for times when bird visitation is low. Compared with red flowers, yellow flower had a lower degree of dichogamy, which might increase selfing possibilities and provide reproduction assurance when red flowers receive low bird visitation. Interestingly, yellow flowers had a relatively higher degree of herkogamy, i.e. stigmas are much higher than anthers when compared to the red flowers. Greater herkogamy in yellow flowers may reflect an adaptation to decreased dichogamy, avoiding autonomous selfing and interference between female and male organs. Fruit set of the yellow phenotype (1.08 ± 0.56)% was lower than that of red phenotype (3.27 ± 0.93)%, suggesting pollen-limitation in B. ceiba. We propose that yellow flowers, with greater herkogamy but lower dichogamy, promote pollination via attracting diverse pollinators and protect red flowers from disturbance of honeybees.

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Banana fruit is the second vital food crop. Although the significant business crop value, the major production restrain is the accessibility of reliable and harmless material for planting. For in vitro growth of excited tissues, sources of carbon have been considered as one of the most significant factor. Types of sugars and concentrations are identified to affect the in vitro protocol succ ess. Crop micro propagation is also facing the challenges which require to be addressed in order to improvement in its production. In this study, influence of three carbon sources such as (dextrose, sucrose and sorbitol) used to increase Murashige and Skoo g medium at four applications control, 15, 30, 45 and 60g/l respectively.