Status of Poplar in Uttar Pradesh

In Uttar Pradesh (UP) there is only one representative of indigenous genus Populus, i.e. Populus ciliata. However, a number of exotic species and their clones were tried in UP since almost 50 years ago and after a decade of rigorous trials both in hills and plains (mainly Tarai region) only P. yunnanensis and P. deltoides were found most promising species respectively. In UP breeding of Poplar was also started successfully from 1982. By breeding, a number of new clones of Poplar have been developed and more than 30 clones have been found promising which have 25% to 70% more productivity than the exotic clones. The work on breeding and selection of new clones continues.