CLONAL PROPAGATION OF Cnidoscolus quercifolius BY AIR-LAYERING

ABSTRACT

Cnidoscolus quercifolius is an oleaginous plant that can be used for the rehabilitation of degraded areas, feed and food, medicine, sawmill and energy. Clonal propagation of faveleira is a good alternative to seedling production, just like a tool in the plant improvement and to the producers. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of the air-layering technique on the propagation vegetative of the faveleira, with the view to determine the effect of five concentrations of indolbutyric acid (IBA) and two substrates. There were also evaluated the time necessary for the emergence of roots. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design in a 5 x 2 factorial scheme, with 10 repetitions. Each plot consisted of a pruned layers, totaling 100 plots, and treatments combining the five IBA concentrations (0,0; 1,5; 3,0; 4,5 e 6,0 g L^-1) with the two types of substrates (vermiculite and commercial substrate).There was significant stimulating effect by applying 'indobultírico' acid (IBA), to obtain the best results the percentage of air layers roots, root number and root dry mass with a concentration of 6.0 g L^-1. The emergence of the roots on the surface of the substrates occurred at 42 days after the completion of the air layering. There was no significant difference between the substrates for any variable.

Keywords
faveleira; forestry improvement; caatinga; oleaginous plant