Pollen productivity and pollen viability of selected tea cultivars (TV clones) grown at NBRRDC, Nagrakata,West Bengal

Abstract

Pollen productivity, pollen viability and receptivity of stigma vary widely among the varieties within a plant species. Recently, the pollen selection (selective fertilization) technique has gained importance in the development of high yielding progenies having resistance to moisture stress, cold stress and pest and disease infestation. This study was conducted to assess the production and viability of pollen in TV clones (TV1, TV19, TV20, TV25 and TV26) at North Bengal Regional R & D Centre, Tea Research Association, Nagrakata, West Bengal during November-December, 2012. The results showed that mean anther per flower, mean pollen grains per flower, percent germination of pollen grains and length of pollen tube growth varied among clones. TV19 produced maximum pollen per flower (252510) while TV26 produced lowest number of pollen per flower (116160). The highest percentage in germination of pollen (85%) was observed in TV19 and lowest (75%) in TV26. Investigations on pollen productivity and pollen viability of different tea cultivars will be a useful technique to select parents for crossing, increasing productivity of seed baries (orchards) and development of suitable seed yielders.