Dr. D.G. Nikles, of the Queensland Department of Forestry, is currently planning a cooperative progeny study of P. caribaea var. hondurensis. Seedlots, from individual plus trees selected in several countries, are to be sown in 1979.
Sets of seed, each comprising approximately 60 open-pollinated families can be offered to about 20 cooperators. The distribution of seedlots will be governed by seed availability, the requirements of each cooperator, and a firm commitment from each cooperating organization to establish and maintain trials of one or more sets.
The objectives are to supply developing or expanding tree improvement programmes with selected, improved genetic material for immediate enrichment of existing local material and to study family-environmental interactions over a wide range of sites and families. The planned study extends earlier trials planted in Queensland, Fiji and the Northern Territory in 1972 and in Queensland, Congo, Brazil, South and East Africa and the Northern Territory (Australia) in 1976.
Organizations interested in establishing a trial of this material as part of the cooperative study may seek further information from:
Dr. D.G. Nikles
Queensland Department of Forestry
P.O. Box 5
Roma Street
Brisbane, Queensland 4000
Australia.
