Genetic Variability in teak (Tectona grandis) progeny trail

• Grant number: 08/05937-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): October 01, 2008
• Effective date (End): September 30, 2009
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Edson Seizo Mori
• Grantee: Matheus Zorzetto Ferreira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In consequence of the uncontrollable reduction of natural forests around the world, ecological alternatives have been chased to restore the natural forests and also to have alternative to supply the necessity of wood. Many species have been studied about their growth, wood quality, and viability of commercial plantings. In 70's a large quantity of genetic material of many eucalyptus species from Australia and some Indonesia islands was introduced in Brazil and nowadays it have yielded millions of dollars from pulp and paper production in commercial plantings of high productivity. In spite of eucalyptus supplied a most part of wood necessity, they do not present wood quality for every purpose, being necessary the use of other forest tree species with high wood quality, for e.g., furniture industry. Therefore, teak (Tectona grandis) is a species that has shown good results as a wood with excellent commercial value by national and mainly for international market. The teak is originated from forests of India, Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos, and was introduced to Indonesia more than 400 years ago and today is extensively planted through not only in Southeast Asia, but throughout all tropical Americas, including Brazil, and also by Africa and some countries of Pacific. Teak present a noble wood, worldwide utilized in research where quality, durability, and beauty are fundamental requirements. Genetically improved populations that satisfy the requirement of wood productivity depend upon the ability to identify desirable genotypes into the population under selection in tree improvement programs. An alternative, in short time, to enable uniform commercial planting, with high productivity and quality of perennial tree species of large cycle is the use of vegetative propagation. Nowadays, teak has been propagated by in vitro techiniques, which are expensive, increasing the cost of the culture. A lot of effort has been done to decrease the vegetative propagation cost in plant nurseries to produce seedlings. Therefore, the objective of this research is to select Tectona grandis progenies with better ability for vegetative propagation by rooting and also to estimate the genetic parameters of quantitatives traits related to root inducing and formation in cuttings and to observe the potential of sprouting ability on intensive production of seedlings. The progeny trail for cuttings will be set up by the randomized block design with 15 progenies. The 1000ppm IBA will be used to stimulate the rooting of cuttings in the experiment. In the case of the progeny trial for sprouting ability the experiment will be set up by the randomized blocks design using subplots with 15 plots (progenies) and two subplots (bud pruning and ethrel application).