Koa Productivity Assessment. Some tips from tropical plantations outside Hawaii

Transcription

1 Koa Productivity Assessment Some tips from tropical plantations outside Hawaii

2 Five-year-old eucalypt hybrids in Brazil

3

4 Koa Progress Report Card Progress Hawaii to be Examples of What is Needed Area of Expertise Level commended for For Improvement Genetics 30 Brewbakerand Fusarium x Seed Management 30 Timing and Bruchids Nursery Practices 30 Substantial Attempts x Site Selection 20 Know some of predelections x Site Preparation 10 Experience with eucalypts x Plantation Establishment 20 Several small plantings x Fertilization 20 Experience with Phosphorus x Competition Management 10 Basic manual methods x Form Management 10 Awareness of problem x Psyllids blamed as one cause Density Management 40 Need well documented x Insect and Disease Problems 30 A couple of problematic x insects and diseases identified Gardner and company Growth and Yield Expectations 20 Volume tables initiated Utilization 30 Vast local knowledge at the x artisan level Marketing 30 good experience with native grown koa material

5 Normal Steps in Forest Genetics Select Species Select Provenance Select Families Select individuals among families (among provenances among species). Cross best families and choose the best performers for the next generation. Consider cloning of elite genotypes

6 Some Traits to Select for in Koa Some of the traits Growth rate Form Straightness Maintenance of apical dominance (no forking) Small branches Resistance to diseases or insects Fusarium Wood quality Curly grain Extractive content Density, fiber characteristics # of trees Genetic parameters Normal bell-shaped curve An example: Volume in dm3

7 Obvious need for Fusarium resistance

8

9 Having straighter koa is important

10 When interested in breeding for faster growing, straighter, healthier koa, please consider using the Cannon and Shelbourne approach Works well where pollinization is carried out by mess and spoil insects. Costs about $100,000 for every 60 families tested Each test can easily be converted into a seed orchard with a near maximum of genetic gain and minimal chances for inbreeding; there is no need for grafting or waiting the 10 to 15 years for a grafted orchard to become productive, seed production begins within 1-2 years. The design lends itself perfectly to sub-lining which (it sounds like) is the way that Hawaii wants to go with its koa breeding populations.

11 With koa, wood character is enormously variable

12 Relatively low value koa Photo courtesy of Michael Kauffman

13 Retail prices (US $/m3) for the various grades of rough-finish koa lumber and raw logs, and the associated percentage price increases between 2005 and 2007 Lumber grade Increase (%) Grade 2 common 789 1, Grade 1 common 1,754 1,842 5 Select/better 3,158 3,509 4, Select/curl 4,386 5,263 5, Full curl 5,263 7, Premium curl 7,895 8, Instrument grade 11,404 17, Koa logs\0.6 m long 1,053 1,053 0 Koa logs C 2 m long 1,053 1,228 2, Source: personal interviews of Hawaii-based loggers and retailers by NS Dudley Comment: High-quality logs with lengths of 2 m or more are currently in short supply in the marketplace

14 Where possible, check out wood properties when collecting seed.

15 Koa psyllid The impact of heavy psyllid feeding Because several hundred species of psyllids occur just on acacia and eucalyptus trees in Australia, exotic, new psyllid species are likely to be introduced into California. One possible control: the lady bug larvae UC California Extension Hotline

16 Species-Specific Management Methods Acacia Psyllid. (from UC IPM Hotline) 1) Acacia psyllid populations have been greatly reduced by a blacklady beetle and a purplish pirate bug 2) thoroughly cover new shoots with low-toxicity insecticides such as oil or soap. 3) Use systemic insecticides. Number 1 performer: the systemic insecticide imidacloprid (Bayer Tree & Shrub Insect Control or Merit) Or, 4) perhaps, one could just breed for resistance to psyllids. Brewbaker et al found four species of Leucaena with resistance.

17 Using Mahogany to improve Koa Form Site selection and prep and fertilization and stand mgt later

18

19 Nursery practices Treat seed with sulfuric acid Coat seed with gum arabic (it is sticky!) Add pulverized rock phosphate Add Sulphomag Add especially selected rhizobium Sow in media with optimized soil moisture release properties. You will get 100% germination and 2 cm tall seedlings in 24 hours (recipe for haole koa)

20 Effect of different fertilizer combinations on Acacia mangium growth in a Venezuelan nursery after 3 months Stem weight in grams From Perez, Clavero and Rass, 1998 Possibilities for inoculating with vesicular arbuscular Rhizobium, & Trichoderma spp.

21 Site selection Study the nature of the sites where koa does well, where it does poorly and where it doesn t do at all. Choose sites that have soil and climatic conditions optimal for sustaining koa.

22

23

24 Compacted soils are a common problem in Hawaii

25

26 Some physical and chemical properties of soils derived from volcanic ash Approximate Age of the ash Cation Exchange Capacity Surface Area MINERAL (since the eruption) meq/100 gm of soil m2/ gm of soil Pro-allophane Allophane Halosite 5 to Kaolinite Over 20,000 years 3 to 10 50

27 Nutrients most likely to be lacking in soils derived from volcanic ash Phosphorus; there may be some in the soil but it will probably be fixed in oxides with iron and aluminum. Nitrogen; there may be some in the organic matter but because there is no available phosphorus for soil micro-organisms, these cannot decompose the organic matter. Boron..often escapes to the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions. Calcium, magnesium and molibdenum are also likely to be deficient. Aluminum saturation above 60% will provide toxic soil conditions for the roots.

28 Effect of Fertilization Height in meters One-year growth of Eucalyptus grandis on an Andept soil in response to four dosages of NPK at planting; all seedlings also given 7 gm of borax Grams of NPK applied per plant From Cannon, 1984

29 The impact of boron deficiency Commonly deficient in forest soils Especially in soils derived from volcanic ash or other pyroclastic materials. First impact..root tips die Later, apical meristems don t grow and/or die and buds cluster Deficiency commonly becomes expressed during dry seasons and/or where soils have low organic matter. Easily fixed with the application of 5 gm of borax applied at time of planting (or 10 to 20 grams after establishment).

30 Ade Nutr Defi quat Toxi ient cient e c 2.0- N% P% 0.15 >0.5 < K% <0.1 S% Ca% < Mg < % Cu (mg/ kg) <3 Zn (mg/ kg) <10 Mn (mg/ 195- kg) 325 B (mg/ kg) <10 Deficiency and Toxicity levels of different nutrients for Acacia mangium in Malaysia (from Boardman,1997) Threshold levels for macronutrients (%) and micronutrients (mg/kg) K deficiency Nutrient Deficient Adequate Toxic N% P% >0.5 K% < S% <0.10 Ca% < Mg% < Cu (mg/kg) <3 Zn (mg/kg) <10 Mn (mg/kg) B (mg/kg) <10 Note: Molydenum and Cobalt needed by N-fixers

31 Integrated pest management to Breed for resistance control Fusarium Pick sites known to have low levels of pathogenic fusarium propagules Add chemicals or other micro-organisms (eg Tricoderma spp.) to the nursery mixture. Prepare the site so there will be adequate internal drainage which will favor the seedling and not the pathogen.

32 Root rot can be a factor

33 Plenty of reason for Optimism

34

35