Abstract

Rubber tree or Hevea brasiliensis is a tropical crop from the Amazon forest, South America. The name ‘rubber’ was been given to natural rubber by Priestly, in 1770. Today, rubber tree has been the main source of natural rubber for use worldwide. South East Asia is the main producer of natural rubber in the world. Seeds used for rootstocks production are very important to nursery and rubber industry. Rootstocks will be used for bud grafting in order to produce clone plant. This study which was divided into two stages, germination of seeds and seedlings growth performance, will provide some information about various seeds in terms of rootstock production. Germination test was carried out with 50 seeds from each clone. Six clones used in this study were PB 260, RRIM 901, RRIM 2001, RRIM 2005, RRIM 2006 and RRIM 2026. Seeds from clone PB 260 were used as control. Germination rate was determined after two weeks. After germination, seedlings were transplanted into polythene bags and growth performances were evaluated for three months. Experiments were carried out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Data obtained were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT) using statistical analysis system (SAS). The results showed that clone PB 260 had the highest germination rate with 72%, while seeds from clone RRIM 2005 and RRIM 2006 were the lowest. Although, germination rate was the second highest, seeds from clone RRIM 2001 had high growth performance as shown by seedlings height, girth and root dry weight. This study suggested seeds from clone RRIM 2001 were the most suitable seeds to use for rootstocks and seedlings production.

Key words: Hevea brasiliensis, RRIM 2000 series, nursery production, seedlings, rootstocks production.