Developing clonal propagation technique for conservation of endangered medicinal plant Dioscorea deltoidea Wall

The present study was conducted to standardize the propagation protocol for Dioscorea deltoidea Wall during the year 2008 in polybags under shade net in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with seven treatments and three replications. Rhizome cuttings of 2-3 cm length were treated with six (6) concentrations of NAA and IBA (i.e; NAA 20ppm, NAA 30ppm, IBA 20ppm, IBA 30ppm, NAA 10ppm+IBA 10ppm, NAA 15ppm+IBA 15ppm) and control (distilled water) for 12 hours. In general, IBA at 30ppm resulted in early sprouting (14.43 days), maximum sprouting percentage (93.33%), early root emergence (12.37days), maximum rooting percentage (89.33%), maximum number of secondary roots (40.60), longest root (34.07cm), maximum root diameter (1.27mm) and root propensity (4.00), followed by NAA+IBA while as, control recorded delayed sprouting and rooting.