Background
The first plantings in the project area were done in 1997. The main species was Acacia mangium. Then, the only commercially available genetic materials were unimproved.
These unimproved materials were collected from natural stands in North-eastern Queensland in Australia, the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, Papua, and the eastern Maluku Islands in Indonesia.
These wild seedlots produced poor quality plantations: yield was marginal, tree form was poor, and trees were susceptible to pests and diseases.
Knowledge about appropriate silvicultural treatments like fertilization, weeding, thinning, pruning, and singling were also wanting.
There was a dire need for better quality genetic materials as well as for appropriate plantation establishment and management technologies. It was, therefore, inevitable for the company to engage in a comprehensive R&D programme.
R&D Department
R&D department was created in 2004. The department had been a vital entity of the planted forest projects of GP Pusaka and Pusaka KTS. In general, its role had been to contribute to the development of top quality, sustainable, and financially viable plantations through:
- Development of genetically-improved varities of various suitable fast-growing plantation species for optimum production of high-value wood;
- Development and refinement of appropriate silvicultural standards;
- Development of pest & disease management strategies specially bio-protection, and
- Development of plantation management tools such as volume functions and growth & yield models.
As such, R&D is comprised of four major components namely: tree improvement, silviculture, plantation health and growth & yield modeling.
Research
A comprehensive Acacia mangium breeding program was established in 2005. Single parent tree selections were done, good stands were converted to Seed Productions areas (SPAs) and provenance and progeny trials were established. After 12 years of research this all culminated into a clonal family forestry program where genetically superior cuttings are commercially produced and establish in sustainable plantations. The material is rated by international scientists as being of the best material in the world, not only having good form and growth characteristics but high kraft pulp yield and a certain amount of disease tolerance.
Acacia mangium is grown for pulpwood, local markets require other wood products like saw timber, veneer logs and construction timber. For this the R&D team has embarked on an intensive breeding program to develop genetically superior material of high value species like Eucalyptus pellita, Eucalyptus deglupta, Falcataria moluccana and Gmelina arborea to meet these demands. High yielding superior clones of these high value species have already been identified and tested and are now being commercially produced.
In a commercial plantation of this size which is predominantly a mono culture, pests and diseases are always a threat and can be potentially disastrous. In order to reduce the threat a bio-protection program was initiated in 2008. This involved the use of beneficial fungi that thrives in the roots of healthy plants. By introducing this fungi to the trees in the nursery stage one is able to help the tree fight of detrimental fungi and which has also shown anti-bacterial activity by producing toxins. The beneficial fungus being introduced is Trichoderma and it not only grows in plant roots but also penetrates root epidermis which boosts plant growth by enhancing uptake and use of nutrients and immune system.
In order to successfully manage an Industrial Tree Plantation a good understanding of tree growth and yield are essential. This enables managers to predict the returns on the investments made and where to concentrate ones efforts to improve productivity.
In order to accurately predict what the plantation will yield, growth models have been developed through an intensive tree measurement program, incorporating over 1,200 Permanent Sample Plots (PSP).
These PSP’s are measured annually and the growth data stored in a database from where mortality, yield, growth and product mix models are derived.
In conclusion for GP Pusaka to stay at the fore front of ITP in Malaysia ongoing research is needed to ensure new genetic material is always being used, thus ensuring high yielding disease resistant material is being established to meet market demands on a sustainable basis.