Abstract:
Black pepper, known as the ‘King of spices’, is a commercially significant spice crop.
Current propagation methods primarily use cuttings from top shoots or ground
runners. Top shoot cuttings produce more roots and lateral branches, yet require more
resources and maintenance. In contrast, ground runner cuttings are cost-effective but
exhibit slow growth. A study was conducted at the Central Research Station, Matale
from June to November 2024, to improve the propagation efficiency of ground runner
cuttings by evaluating five different cutting techniques. A completely randomized
design (CRD) with three replications was used to evaluate five cutting types (T1: top
cutting, T2: single nodal cutting, T3: double nodal cutting, T4: two-stick single nodal
cutting, T5: two-stick double nodal cutting) across 15 experimental units, with a total
of 750 plants. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, with mean comparisons by Tukey’s
test (α=0.05). T5 showed the highest significant (p<0.05) increase in fresh (4.6±0.56
g plant⁻¹) and dry (0.53±0.02 g plant⁻¹) leaf biomass. The highest (p<0.05) increment
in fresh (17.95±1.31 g plant⁻¹) and dry (4.79±0.21 g plant⁻¹) stem biomass was shown
by T1. The exceptional rooting characteristics, including significantly higher
(p<0.05) fresh root biomass (2.33±0.65 g plant⁻¹) and the longest root increment
(33.22±1.56 cm) were exhibited by T5. In addition, a significantly higher (p<0.05)
increment of number of leaves (2.67±0.37) and the highest number of total secondary
roots were recorded in T5. Although T1 and T5 demonstrated better overall
propagation efficiency, T5 was the most cost-effective with a lower input cost (LKR
52.00 per cutting) compared to T1 (LKR 66.00 per cutting). In conclusion, T5 proved
efficient for commercial black pepper propagation by optimizing resources, reducing
costs, and enhancing growth, highlighting the potential of ground runner cuttings for
cost-effective, large-scale adoption to improve yield and economic returns.
