Relationship between Flower Galls and Girth Class of Prosopis cineraria (L.) Druce
Shiwani Bhatnagar *
Forest Protection Division, ICFRE- Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur (Rajasthan), India.
Ameen Ullah Khan
Forest Protection Division, ICFRE- Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur (Rajasthan), India.
Neha Sharma
Forest Protection Division, ICFRE- Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur (Rajasthan), India.
Bundesh Kumar
Forest Protection Division, ICFRE- Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur (Rajasthan), India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) recognized as a multipurpose tree species of Thar Desert gets infested with flower galls caused by Eriophyes prosopidis. The heavy infestation turns the flowers into galls without forming pods causing high losses in the yield of pods locally known as sangri. The present work was conducted to find out the relation between girth class of tree and average number of galls per inflorescence in the flower gall infested trees. In the present study we concluded that the relation between girth class of tree and average number of galls per inflorescence is negative. The average number of mite induced galls per inflorescence was highest in the girth class 70-100 cm and least in girth class 130-160 cm showing a highly significant inverse relationship between DBH and average number of galls per inflorescence in Khejri.
Keywords: Prosopis cineraria, Eriophyes prosopidis, girth class, galls, inflorescence