Nursery techniques for Capparis ovata desf. (caper) and plantation trials in Artvin region

Nursery Techniques for Capparis ovata Desf. (Caper) and Plantation Trials in Artvin Region Capparis ovata Desf. is a native species of Artvin Region, able to grow 200-1000 m in altitudes. This species appears to promise crucial importance in the future of rustic areas such as the province of Artvin. This is because not only Capparis ovata can serve as an instrument for increasing the inhabitants' income level through making use of shoot tips, flower buds and fruits but also it can help control soil erosion considerably. In recent years Caper shrub growing has become popular owing to the increasing international demand for its pickles. In the present work, it is aimed to produce Capparis ovata seedlings on nursery and then to transfer to the field and make observations on growing progress. Nevertheless the presence of germination hindrance causes difficulties in seedling production. Several procedures, for instance autumn sowing, cold stratification and some chemical methods were applied for eliminating the germination hindrance in order to find the most suitable germination in the greenhouse and open field conditions. The highest germination was determined in seeds which were 60 days stratification treatments under greenhouse (65.1 %). Besides, the germination (49.7 %) was obtained in seeds which were soaked 0.2 % KNO3 for 8 hours after treatment with sulphuric acid for 20 minutes from chemical applications. Furthermore the seedlings obtained by these procedures then were planted on open field and it is ascertained growing the seedlings. In the open field applications, it was observed that the spring precipitation was important on growing of the seedlings in erossion control areas. In first year observing and measurements, it was observed the caper seedlings transfered to the field did not pass the arid period. In addition to this, the highest average of shoot growing (first year 38.2 cm and the second year 56.1 cm) was defined on the irrigated sample plot of Yusufeli- 1. On the other hand, the sample plots where have been at the erossion areas (Pamukçular) and were not irrigated it was defined in the first year average of shoot growing was 6.3 cm and 1 1.5 cm in the second year.Key Words: Capparis ovata Desf, Nursery, Germination, Plantation, Growing