7. Research and development in genetic resources

With a view to improve the productivity and profitability of planting forest species and offering an attractive land use option, many State Forest Departments have established SPAs, CSOs, seedling seed orchards (SSOs), vegetative multiplication gardens (VMGs) and modern nurseries in consultation with ICFRE for production of quality planting stock material. For example, Andhra Pradesh Forest Department has raised 10 438.8 ha of Eucalyptus plantations in different districts using superior quality clones.

ICFRE has also implemented a major research and development project to improve the productivity of Casuarina, poplar, teak and eucalypts in a short time span through the application of vegetative propagation and cloning techniques with the existing useful variation as well as development and deployment of locality-specific, high-yielding, forest-growing and disease-resistant clones (Sharma et al. 2002). The adopted methodology includes selection of candidate plus trees (CPTs) with most desirable qualities and cloning of the CPTs through rooting of juvenile coppice shoots under controlled environment in the green house.

In order to develop better clones than what is available presently and to widen the genetic base of clonal plantations, research and development priorities have been identified and are being carried out in various institutions of ICFRE with significant achievements. These include:

• Selection of candidate plus trees for cloning, for development and deployment of new clones for various species.

• Development of intra–specific hybrids through controlled pollination between clones.

• Development of clonal seed orchards for production of improved genetically superior seed for future plantations.

• Further improvement of technical packages of practices for field plantations and clonal nurseries.

Tree improvement work in India began as early as in the 1960s. It got an impetus with the formation of ICFRE. One of the mandates of the Council is to increase the productivity of forests from 0.7 m³ ha^-1a^-1 to at least 2.5 m³ ha^-1a^-1. The ICFRE institutes have defined suitable species and strategies in collaboration with State Forest Departments and State Forest Research Wings for various states (Table 5).

Table 5. Priority species for different states for the Planting Stock Improvement programme

ICFRE has established the following SPAs, CSOs, SSOs and VMGs of various species in different parts of the country (Table 6).

Table 6. State-wise planting stock improvement areas for priority species under ICFRE (areas in hectares)

7.1. Provenance trials

The first provenance trials for two important native species viz. Tectona grandis and Pinus roxburghii were initiated by Prof. M. L. Laurie and Sir Harry Champion, respectively, during the time when they were silviculturists at the FRI, Dehradun. Provenance trials of teak were established during 1928-30 in a number of locations in India. The tests on teak and chir pine have yielded useful information. International provenance trials of Tectona grandis and Gmelina arborea have been established in different states in collaboration with the Danida Forest Seed Centre (DFSC). ICFRE has initiated national level provenance experiments on Tectona grandis, Pinus roxburghii and Bombax ceiba. ICFRE has also collaborated in international provenance testing of eucalypts, particularly Eucalyptus tereticornis, E. camaldulensis and E. grandis. Trials have also been laid for acacias and tropical pines, such as Pinus oocarpa, P. caribaea and P. kesiya, etc. Technical inputs have been extended to state forest departments for provenance tests for species of interest such as Eucalyptus grandis and E. globulus.

The provenance trials have been further systematised during the last five years by ICFRE. Different institutes conducted both national and international provenance trials in collaboration with the State Forest Departments and international agencies. The details are given in Table 7.

Table 7. Provenance trials established by ICFRE

Plus trees

The selection of plus trees was done with the help of the State Forest Departments. The ICFRE institutes maintain plus tree registers for different species. The largest number of plus trees was for teak followed by D. sissoo, P. roxburghii, C. equisetifolia and A. indica (neem) (Table 8).

Table 8. Details of plus trees selected in various states

7.2. Seed orchards

Seed orchards contribute greatly to the production of quality planting stock of the desired species. A clonal teak seed orchard established at Walayar, Kerala consists of 20 superior genotypes from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andra Pradesh, and is providing superior seeds for improvement programmes. Similarly, a clonal seed orchard of Tectona grandis consisting of 80 clones collected from superior genotypes from different states and seed orchards of Bombax ceiba, Casuarina equisetifolia and bamboos have been established at the Tropical Forest Research Institute (TFRI), Jabalpur. An excellent clonal seed orchard for sandal (Santalum album) has been established at Gottipura by the Institute of Wood Science & Technology (IWST), Bangalore. The seeds are made available to progressive planters and also used for development of demonstration plantation of sandal. Seed orchards established in different states are shown in Table 6.

7.3. Seed production areas

Much of the work with seed production areas is on teak with over 3000 ha established by the close collaboration between different State Forest Departments and ICFRE institutions. Different institutions have developed methods for demarcation and selection of trees in the SPAs so that trees with desirable characteristics are retained. The method for establishment of SPAs has been developed by ICFRE and the details provided to the State Forest Departments. State-wise information about seed production areas is given in Table 6 and Appendix 1.

7.4. Vegetative propagation and establishment of clonal banks

Vegetative propagation is an effective method for tree improvement as it could capture both additive and non-additive genetic variances. By using vegetative propagation techniques, it is possible to produce plants and quickly establish clonal banks, provided the plants are not recalcitrant to rooting and plageotropism in growth. Use of juvenile material or inducing juvenility in adult material greatly contributes to the success of establishing clonal lines.

Different ICFRE institutes have developed a vegetative propagation technique for a number of economically important species for establishment of a clonal bank and for mass multiplication. The details of species have been presented in Table 5. Currently, ICFRE is able to produce and supply good quality planting stock of D. sissoo, E. tereticornis, E. camaldulensis, C. equisetifolia, poplars and Tectona grandis. In addition, ICFRE is continuously adding more and more clones with defined characteristics and is also exchanging clonal material with various State Forest Departments.

7.5. Tissue culture for mass propagation

Research on tissue culture of trees was initiated in late 1970s with emphasis on teak and eucalypts for which protocols were developed. The institutes under ICFRE have taken up a number of species for mass multiplication through tissue culture, to produce adequate number of good quality planting stock material. Studies were also conducted on mass multiplication of different bamboos, including edible bamboos, and several thousands of plantlets have been transferred to the field. The technique is used in conjunction with selection strategies so that the material produced is of high quality.

7.6. Seed bank and seed exchange

The programme for the production of quality planting stock involved tree selection, seed collecting, storage and distribution, not only within the region but also to other regions where the species was of interest. Seed exchange is already in progress for neem, Casuarina, eucalypts and bamboos. ICFRE institutes have developed modern techniques for genetic conservation to improve the planting stock, such as storage of seeds, pollen, storage by in-vitro methods, growth limitation, cryopreservation and use of molecular biological methods. Seed certification is done for transportation of seeds within and outside the country. Seed certification is designed to ensure that the seed for sale is of the right variety and of good quality. Thus, legislation on seed certification has been adopted, however mostly for agriculture seeds. There is a need to develop such mechanism for forestry seeds.