FAO guidelines for seed ordering
A prerequisite for any planting programme is an assured source of seed supply. Whether seed is collected locally or procured from elsewhere, its quality will determine not only the number of sound seedlings raised but also their subsequent survival and growth. "Quality" refers to: (1) the physiological quality of the seed, which depends on factors such as timing and methodology of collection and the handling and treatment of the seed; and (2) genetic quality, which depends on inherent characteristics of the stand, the number of trees involved in pollination of the ovules (and, thus, the probability of inbred or "selfed" - i.e., self-pollinated - seed) and the number of mother trees used as feed sources. The genetic quality of the seed will determine the value of the stand grown from it for subsequent seed collection and for selection and breeding work. It will thus have long-term effects on the development of additional local plantation programmes.
For many species the demand for forest-tree seed on the world market exceeds supply. Unfortunately, the majority of seed of tropical/subtropical arboreal species moving in international trade today is poorly documented or not documented at all. This is partly because of a tendency to accept whatever seed is available, but mainly because of a failure to realize the fundamental importance of adequate documentation on seed-lots used for plantation establishment, tree planting and experimental work.
In view of these and other commonly encountered ambiguities in seed orders, FAO's Forestry Department strongly recommends that the following points be taken into consideration when procuring seed:
1. If a species has not been tried before, order only small quantities of seed for use in statistically sound experiments, and always include local species as "controls" in such trials. If the need to plant is urgent, use proven species. Experiences on species behaviour from other countries or planting regions can give some indications of which species are of potential value for specified conditions and uses and therefore should be included in experimental work; but they can never serve as a substitute for locally established trials.2. Pay attention to the number of seeds per kilogram and do not over-order.
3. Always demand a certificate from the supplier which gives information on origin and provenance (latitude, longitude and altitude, as a minimum) and, ideally, the number of mother trees used as sources if the seed is to be used for experimental purposes or for the development of local seed collection or breeding populations; additional information is needed on stand characteristics and earlier treatments.
4. If an introduced species, is to be used on a large scale and the best or most likely provenances for each planting zone have been experimentally determined, give top priority to the procurement of semi-bulk quantities of seed from a reliable supplier for the establishment of local seed stands, managed for maximum seed production and aimed at making the country or planting region self-sufficient in seed.
Cristel Palmberg
FAO. Rome
New reforestation technology
For the past 100 years, improvements in the world's production of food crops have been obtained by expanding the total area devoted to food agriculture through the clearing of forested land or the use of irrigation to provide water in areas where rainfall is inadequate. Food production per hectare of land cultivated has also been increased through the development of high-yield plant species and the use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
The result of these trends has been an increase in the need for reforestation, reflected in the latest scientific trends in seedling production. Controlled-environment agriculture represents the latest technology. A multi-client study on controlled-environment agriculture has just been completed. This report covers the technology of the totally enclosed factory module for raising such crops as high-value salad crops, ornamentals and tree seedlings.
The report provides an up-to-date review of current world-wide research to develop improved agricultural technology and a thorough account of research programmes where the plants' environment is controlled at levels that increase the crop yields. The authors, Dr George O. Rudkin, former director of development with ICI Americas, and Emeritus Professor Joseph Stevens, University of Virginia, have supplemented information available in published literature with direct communications with researchers active in this field. Their report deals extensively with the growing cost of energy consumed directly and indirectly by the agricultural industry; the research efforts directed at reducing such cost; and the status of certain active attempts to utilize the huge quantity of low-grade thermal energy available from power and process-plant waste water.
They also review in detail the technology and economics of the new, "modular" controlled-environment agricultural units, which represent the latest developments in the science of greenhouse farming.
The report is available through the consulting firm of Monkman-Rumsey, P.O. Box 3760, Wilmington, Del. 19807.
SUNY forestry series
The June 1983 Journal of Forestry announced that the College of Environmental Science and Forestry at the State University of New York (SUNY), Syracuse, New York, has started a new series of forestry publications. The series will include technical notes, scientific reports on basic or applied research, extension brochures, proceedings and collections of miscellaneous papers. Control of beech root and stump sprouts by herbicide injection of parent trees, a note by Lawrence P. Abrahamson, senior research associate at the forestry school, is the first title to be published. For more information write to Professor Edwin H. White, Editor, School of Forestry, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, N.Y. 13210.
New uses for eucalypts
Recent research with eucalypts has unveiled two new uses: as mulch and as a source of oils for transformation into antibacterial drugs. At the University of Tasmania, researchers developed a compost from eucalypt bark which is cheaper and more suitable than peat moss because of eucalypt mulch's greater water-holding capacity and higher nutrient content. This is believed to be the first attempt to use hard-wood bark from eucalypts as mulch, although in the United States bark from oak and beech trees has previously been used. At present Tasmania's forest industry produces 22 000 tonnes of eucalypt bark, but most of it is discarded.
According to the Philippine National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST), whose medical researchers have been studying Eucalyptus tereticornis, essential oils from eucalypts can be a good source of natural anti-bacterial drugs.
Farming Today
August 1982
Pineapple paper
The Small Industry Extension Training Institute in Hyderabad recently developed a process to produce paper from pineapple fibre, a process that the New Central Jute Mills Company in Calcutta has already put into use.
Pineapple fibre is extracted as waste by mechanical stripping machines during the normal harvesting operation. The fibres can be used alone or in a mixture with more conventional raw material such as bamboo. They do not need extensive bleaching, because of their natural whiteness, and produce good-quality printing and writing paper, tissue and newsprint.
International Pulp and Paper
June 1982
RECENTLY HARVESTED PINEAPPLES their fibres can produce paper products (H.T. CHEN)
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Corrigenda 1. The following photo credits were missing or incorrectly given in Vol. 35 No. 142: p. 5 D.E. Earl (Uganda); FAO (Thailand); F. Bolts (China); p./2 F. Botts; p. 13 A. Fernandez Van Asten (Senegal); p. 33 C. Palmberg (AFOCEL; fertilizer trials): P. Boonserm (Suwom); p. 37 P. Johnson; p. 47 F. Mattioli. 2. Bina Agarwal's article "Why stoves are resisted" (Vol. 35 No. 140. p. 22-27) was extracted from an article by the author in World Development (Vol. 11. No. 4. 1983) that was itself based on a longer monograph funded and published by the University of Sussex's Science Policy Research Unit. The article should also have stated that (p. 22) wood is the "single most important source of inanimate energy in the Third World". 3. IUFRO's scientific achievement awards in forestry were given at that organization's Seventeenth World Forestry Conference (Vol. 35 No. 140 P. 34). 4. In the article "Orienting forestry toward the needs of people" by L. Worou and Tran Van Nao (Vol. 34 No. 136) the box on page 10 should have read: "In Benin the shortage of fuelwood can often mean that food is badly cooked or no' heated that water is not boiled and that hygienic conditions are not entirely satisfactory." |
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