Vegetative Propagation by Root Segments Cuttings of Sclerocarya Birrea (A. Rich.) Hochst: Effects of Substrate and Mycorrhizal Inocula on the Ability to Root Cuttings

Abstract

Sclerocarya birrea (A. Rich.) Hochst is one of the woody plants of the soudano-Sahelian zones, with great socioeconomic importance. The local populations over-exploit this species for their daily socio-economic needs and this endangered its durability. The objective of this study was to contribute to the domestication of this species by the low-cost technique of Root Segments Cuttings (RSC). The substrates sand/sawdust and dark soil/Sawdust have been inoculated with 0, 10, and 20 g of mycorrhizae. The experimental design was a split plot with 4 repetitions. The experimental unit is of 10 cuttings. The results show that the best substrate for the budding of the RSC is the mixture of Sand/Sawdust (37.77±17.15%). The appropriate dose of mycorrhizae for the budding of the RSC is 10 g (33.33±21.6%). For the height of the aerial axes, a satisfactory result was obtained in the dose of mycorrhizae of 10 g (3.43±2.40 cm). Concerning the number of the leaves, the maximum is recorded in the RSC inoculated with 20 g of mycorrhizae (3.60±1.36). The analysis of variance did not show a meaningful effect for the treatments (0.54>0.05), as well as for the substrates (0.76>0.05). Regarding the rooting of the cuttings, one must notice that the best substrate for the number of newly formed roots is the mixture of Sand/Sawdust (2.22±1.01) while the dose of 20 g has much allowed the appearance of roots (3.41±1.24). The best substrate for the length of the newly formed roots is the mixture of Sand/Sawdust (2.9±1.3 cm), whiles the proportion of 10 g has permitted a lot of the growth of roots (4.24±1.69 cm) as far the plum tree of Africa is concerned. These results show that improving some parameters at S. birrea is possible by vegetative propagation.