Effect of spacing and nutrient regimes on growth performances of Dendrocalamus brandisii (Munro) Kurz

The present investigation was carried out to assess the effect of spacing and nutrient regimes on the growth performance and relative growth rate of Dendrocalamus brandisii (Munro) Kurz under field conditions. A split plot design was adopted with two spacing regimes as main plot (M1: 4 m × 5 m and M2: 5 m × 5 m) and three nutrient regimes as sub plot (S1 - Optimum level of NPK, S2 - 25% more than optimum, S3 - 50% more than optimum). The study recorded significant variations in growth parameters such as number of culms per clump, internodal length, and culm hollowness over four years. Among nutrient treatments, S3 exhibited the highest values for average plant height, culm girth, and clump girth, suggesting the positive influence of balanced nutrient application. Similarly, wider spacing (M2) marginally improved growth attributes compared to M1, though differences were often non-significant. Internodal length and culm hollowness increased with age, while culm number decreased, indicating a shift from culm quantity to quality with time. The interaction of spacing and nutrients showed that M2S3 treatment produced the highest clump girth and culm hollowness, reflecting vigorous culm development. Relative Growth Rate (RGR) analysis further supported these findings. The highest RGR in average height (RGRAH) was observed under M2S3 (0.0278), while RGR in culm girth (RGRACG) showed minimal variation across treatments. The maximum RGR in clump girth (RGRCLG) was noted in M2S1, and RGR in shoot number (RGRAN) remained consistently negative, indicating reduction in new shoot emergence with increasing culm age. Thus, study highlights that appropriate spacing combined with optimum nutrient application significantly enhances productivity in D. brandisii. These findings may assist in optimizing management practices for large-scale bamboo cultivation aimed at biomass, shoot and culm production.