The genus Cinnamomum

viability is completely lost (Kannan and Balakrishnan, 1967). Lin (1996) found that in
C. subavenium (and also in certain other genera in Lauraceae) the storage behaviour of
seeds deviated from that of the orthodox and recalcitrant types. The seeds of this species
exhibited partial desiccation tolerance and freezing sensitivity deviating from the
definitions of either orthodox or recalcitrant storage behaviour.
Ripe fruits are collected from selected mother trees having the following desirable
charcteristics: (i) erect stem with smooth bark; (ii) vigorous growth; (iii) easiness of
peeling stem bark; (iv) free from pests and diseases; and (v) good quality characteristics
– sweetness, pungency and flavour. This can be judged by the ‘bite test’ of
petiole or bark. Fully ripe berries are collected and left in heaps for two to four days
in shade to soften and rot. Seeds have to be washed and cleaned and then good seeds
are sown without delay in shaded seed beds or in poly bags. Germination starts
in about 20 days. Germination is epigeal. For field planting one-year old seedlings
are used.
Sebastian et al. (1995) and Bhandari (1996) studied the effect of phytohormones on
seed germination. Soaking of seeds in GA 3 (150 ppm) or thiourea (1500 ppm) resulted
in significantly high germination (98%). GA 3 at 50 ppm reduced the number of days
taken for commencement of germination (13 days) when compared to the control
(22 days). The subsequent seedling growth (root length, root number, dry weight of
shoot, seedling vigour) was more in seedlings raised from seeds treated with 1500 ppm
thiourea. GA 3 at 300 ppm resulted in more leaves and greater shoot length. Bhandari
(1996) found that GA and kinetin showed stimulating activity in breaking seed
dormancy, while IAA and IBA had no such effect. ABA retarded germination.
Vegetative propagation
Botany and Crop Improvement of Cinnamon and Cassia 61
Both cinnamon and cassia are cross-pollinated species and wide variability has been
observed in yield (Ponnuswami et al., 1982; Krishnamoorthy et al., 1992), quality of
produce and oil content (Paul and Sahoo, 1993) and other morphological characteristics.
Hence vegetative propagation is necessary to produce uniformly high yielding
plantations, and also for propagating elite lines. In Chinese cassia vegetatively propagated
plants are not used for commercial planting, as such plants are known to give
poor quality stem and bark, less vigorous growth and regeneration (Dao, this volume).
However, clonal propagation is recommended in cinnamon (Weiss, 1997).
Cinnamon can be propagated through cuttings. Single node cuttings with leaves
can be rooted in a month’s time under high humidity conditions (CPCRI, 1985).
Application of IBA or IAA at 2000 ppm enhanced the rooting to 73 and 65%,
respectively. Rema and Krishnamoorthy (1993) noted much variability in the rooting
response of various cinnamon accessions (genotypes) (Table 2.9). Variation in rooting
during different seasons has also been reported and this has been interpreted to be due
to the differences in the endogenous levels of auxins, reducing and nonreducing
sugars, nitrogen and C:N ratio (IISR, 1996). In a study involving nine genotypes
the rooting percentage ranges from 3.3 to 60.5 and genotypes differ in their ability
to root.
Nageswari et al. (1999) studied the effect of biofertilisers on rooting of cinnamon and
found that phosphobacteria (soil application dipping the cutting in phosphobacteria
containing slurry) application gave a significantly higher rooting percentage (63.3%),
longer roots (8.2 cm) and a greater number of roots (2.3) per cutting. Nageswari et al.