Abstract

                                Dyeing is a traditional art and the Indians are experts in doing it. Natural dyes find huge scope in the current era of organic interests. Bixa orellana L. is commonly known as a lipstick tree. The present study was conducted to identify the superior progenies from plus trees selected from various locations of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The progenies were evaluated for four growth periods in the nursery such as 45 days after sowing (DAS), 90 DAS, 135 DAS, and 180 DAS. The growth performance was recorded for shoot length, collar diameter, root length, root to shoot ratio, number of leaves, sturdiness quotient, and volume index. The results indicated that the two progenies showed significant superiority in growth attributes viz., TNBi 008 and TNBi 003. Higher growth attributes in nursery seedlings may contribute more to better performance in field conditions. Volume index recorded the maximum values for GCV (36.04%), PCV (37.81%), and genetic advance (70.76%). The highest heritability was shown by shoot length (0.99) and root length (0.98). Good tree architecture facilitates them to produce more resources, such energy could be allocated for a further reproductive phase that results in increased seed yield. The superiority of these progenies for growth traits shows that they could be better utilized for developing plantations to meet the dye demand and for further tree improvement programme.

Key words : Natural dyes; Bixa; Growth; Variation; Progenies