Genetic evaluation and characterization of Toona ciliata for productivity enhancement.

Toona ciliata is an important native timber species of India that is found as natural populations throughout the sub-Himalayan tracks and the valley of outer Himalayas, plains of Assam, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, M P., Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Eastern, and Western Ghats, occurring to an elevation of 1500 meters in western peninsula Khasi hills and Manipur mostly along with the cultivated fields and roads. The timber is classed as suitable for grade-l commercial Plywood and Grade-l moisture-proof plywood. The leaves are sometimes lopped for fodder. In India, the species have been neglected for years because of their scanty and scattered distribution, confined mainly to the agricultural fields and roadsides only, but gaining importance with due over time, depending upon the needs of the individuals. The ever-increasing demand for raw materials for multiple uses of forest products and by-products has attracted the interest of fast-growing, native species, such as the Australian Cedar (Toona ciliata), which presents high productive and economic potential. Even after being such potential native species, works on genetic improvement of the Toona ciliata have not still been initiated in the country.