Annals of Plant Sciences ISSN: 2287-688X OPEN ACCESS www.annalsofplantsciences.com Original Research Article *Corresponding Author: Prof. Virendra Singh, Department of Biology & Environmental Sciences, College of Basic Science, CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur-176062 (HP), INDIA. Page| 1003 Evaluation of some exotic forms of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides ssp. mongolica) in cold desert Himalayas Virendra Singh* 1 , LK Sharma 2 and RK Rana 2 1 Department of Biology & Environmental Scinces, CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur 176062, HP, India. 2 CSK HPAU, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bajaura 175125 (Kullu), India Received for publication: January 25, 2015; Accepted: February 07, 2015. Introduction Seabuckthorn grows very widely in high altitude areas of dry temperate parts of Indian Himalayas, i.e. Lahaul-Spiti, parts of Chamba and Kinnaur districts in Himachal Pradesh (Singh et al., 1995; Singh, 2003), Ladakh (Dwivedi et al., 2001), upper regions of Uttranchal, Sikkim (Basistha et al., 2001) and Arunachal Pradesh (Tiwari and Singh, 2001). Traditionally, it is being used in local medicines and as an important source of fuelwood in Himalayas (Brijlal et al., 2001; Singh, 2001). After the realization of its rich nutritional and medicinal properties and its role in environmental conservation (Lu Rongsen, 1992), active research on several aspects of seabuckthorn have been started in several institutions of India. We have carried out studies on its surveys (Singh et al., 1995, Singh and Dogra, 1996 and Singh and Singh, 2004), propagation (Singh, 1994) and fodder values (Singh et al., 1999) and evaluation of some local forms of seabuckthorn (Singh et al., 2001), whereas a number of studies are in progress on clinical and experiment parameters of seabuckthorn (Geetha et al., 2002a, b), consequently some products have also been developed. In view of increasing demand of seabuckthorn raw material in Indian and international markets, we are making efforts to develop high yielding cultivars, having desirable features like dwarfness, few thorns, large fruit and high fruit yield and oil content and absence of diseases. The present paper discusses the results of five exotic improved forms, growing under the nursery conditions. Materials and Methods We started the work on introduction of improved forms in 1995 and since then five exotics have been introduced with the titles of “HI” series. The present paper discusses the results of studies on the growth of 5 exotics of seabuckthorn raised in nursery conditions at Highland Agriculture Research and Extension Centre, located at Kukumseri in Lahaul valley of Chenab river in district Lahaul-Spiti, a semiarid valley of district Lahaul-Spiti (north latitude, 31 o 44’57” and 33 o 42’ 54” and east longitude 76 o 56’ 29” and 78 o 41’ 34”), a dry temperate region of Himachal Himalayas. The Centre is located at the base of northern slope at an altitude of 2730 m asl. The site experiences heavy snowfall during winter (100-400 cm) and temperature goes down to –20 o C during winter. The average rainfall of the area is about 450 mm per year, most of which occurs during July-August. Abstract: Five exotic improved forms of seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides ssp. mongolica) introduced during 3 different years, are being evaluated for their growth at Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University’s High Land Agricultural Research and Extension Centre, located at Kukumseri (2730 m a.s.l) in district Lahaul-Spiti, a dry temperate region of Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh. The region is characterized by low rainfall (about 450 mm/yr) and heavy snowfall (100-400 cm/yr). The first exotic form “H1-1” introduced in 1995, after 7 years of growth, had a diameter of 2.8 cm at base, 178 cm of height, a narrow canopy spread of 29 cm. This form had the fruit weight of 30.5 cm/100 fruits. The two other exotics HI-2 and HI-3, after 4 years of growth had the heights of 37 and 52 cm and canopy spread of 6.5 and 12 cm, respectively. The other two exotics HI-4 and HI-5 introduced in 2001, have also adapted to the local conditions. No decease has been recorded in any exotic form introduced at the center. All the forms were nearly thornless, except HI-4. Key words: Seabuckthorn, exotics, evaluation, cold desert Himalayas