SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 100, NO. 4, 25 FEBRUARY 2011 465 laparoscope. On a bright, sunny day, if properly directed and focused, solar energy can be utilized for performing not only laparoscopic operations, but for any studies where optical fibre cables are used. Population growth is a big challenge in our country, and family planning is highly prioritized by the Government of India. Sterilization is the most common voluntary contraceptive method, and has for many years been performed in camps. In the present study we have used solar energy as an illuminating light source for laparoscopic sterilization because in most of the remote areas there is poor and unreliable power supply. Further improvizations are possible, particularly during field camps, making arrangements for direct reading of the Lux meter and for the reflector and focusing lens to be attached to the laparoscope. 1. India and Family Planning: An Overview, Department of Family and Community Health, Regional Office South-East Asia, WHO, New Delhi, 2000. 2. ‘Looking Back, Looking Forward: A Pro- file of Sexual Reproductive Health in India’, Population Council with support from WHO, New Delhi, 2003. 3. Das, A. and Sathyanarayana, K. M., In Review of Implementation of Community Needs Assessment Approach for Family Welfare in India, The Futures Group Inter- national, New Delhi, 2000. 4. A report on Madhya Pradesh Population Policy, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Madhya Pradesh, 2000. 5. Hecht, J., Understanding Fiber Optics, Prentice Hall, NJ, 2002, 4th edn. 6. Nishizawa, Jun-ichi et al., In Physics of Semi Conductor Devices, Narosa Publish- ing House, New Delhi, 2004, p. 27. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. We thank Safle Malshe and Ramrakhiyani, Department of Physics, Rani Durgawati Vishwa Vidhyalaya, Jabalpur, for help to carry out the experiment. Received 24 November 2010; accepted 9 December 2010 R. CHAUHAN 1, * TAPAS CHAKMA 2 P. VINAY RAO 2 1 Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur 482 003, India 2 Regional Medical Research Centre for Tribals (ICMR), Jabalpur 482 003, India *For correspondence. e-mail: dr.r.chauhan02@gmail.com Evaluation of progenies of candidate plus trees of Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre. for seed germination and seedling vigour Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre. (family Leguminosae, sub-family Fabaceae) is one of the commercially important multi- purpose tree species of India, and is popularly known as ‘Karanj’. The spe- cies is found commonly in littoral and riverian forests of India 1 . It is considered as a multipurpose tree species due to its various uses like fodder, shade, biofuel, medicinal uses and for nitrogen fixing in agroforestry 2 . Recently, this species has been recog- nized for its high commercial value, where Karanj seeds are used for oil extraction in biofuel production (35– 42%) 3 . Hence the National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils Development (NOVOD) Board, Gurgaon, India, has initiated a tree improvement programme for tree- borne oil-yielding species (TBOs) in dif- ferent states with a mandate for popula- tion identification, selection of superior genotypes and establishment of seed orchards to produce high-quality fruits/ seeds for oil extraction. Recently, the College of Forestry, Dr Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidya- peeth (DBSKKV), Dapoli, has initiated such work in the Konkan region, Maha- rashtra. Twenty candidate plus trees (CPTs) were selected in this region based on their superiority with respect to fruit yield, seed quality and oil yield. How- ever, performance of progenies of such superior genotypes needs to be evaluated at different stages from the seedling stage to at least one-third of the rotation of that crop for morphological and reproductive characters like quality and quantity of fruit yield 4 . Progeny evaluation is one of the selec- tion methods followed in tree improve- ment programmes, where superior genotypes are selected based on the per- formance of their respective progenies at an early age by providing similar environmental (growing) conditions to progenies of selected genotypes 5 . Indi- viduals selected through this method are known to be superior with respect to their genetic characters. Hence, plus trees are generally graded as elite types based on progeny performance in prog- eny trials. With this background, the present study was undertaken at DBSKKV during 2009–2010 to evaluate progenies of selected CPTs of P. pinnata for seed ger- mination and seedling growth attributes. The study area is situated on the west coast of Maharashtra at an altitude of 280 m amsl at 17°45′N lat. and 13°12′E long. in the subtropical region. Pods were collected from 20 CPTs selected by DBSKKV during 2008–2009 (ref. 6) and located in different regions of Konkan Maharashtra. Pods were spread sepa- rately on the floor under the shade for one week. Then the seeds were extracted and cleaned. Individual seed lot of dif- ferent CPTs was sown on raised nursery bed covered with potting mixture con- sisting of soil, sand and farmyard manure (FYM) in the ratio 2 : 1 : 1 during July. This experiment was laid out in random- ized block design with four replications having 100 seeds each. Watering and weeding were attended as and when re- quired. Observation on daily germination count was recorded up to 45 days from the date of first emergence (Figure 1). Further, seedling growth parameters like seedling height, collar diameter, leaf area and num- ber of leaves were recorded in the nurs- ery bed at monthly intervals up to six months. For biomass estimation, eight seedlings from each CPT were uprooted from the nursery bed and these samples were washed in water to remove the soil completely from the root portion. Later, root growth parameters like tap root length, primary root length, number of primary roots and seedling biomass were recorded. Shoot and root vigour indices were calculated using standard formula. The data were subjected to statistical