Clonal Eucalypt Forestry in Venezuela, 2000 Pulping / Process & Product Quality Conference Proceedings

J. A. Wright, L. Rosales--Clonal eucalypt forestry has been developed in a number of countries including Brazil, South Africa, Colombia and others. In Venezuela, the development of clonal eucalypt forestry began in 1989 by Smurfit Carton de Venezuela (SCV). Initial activity by SCV was to select superior trees of Eucalyptus grandis and to develop clonal garden management and appropriate nursery techniques. Over time the program has developed to include Eucalyptus urophylla and the hybrid, urograndis. Currently more than 50% of new SCV eucalypt plantations are established with clones with an objective of 80% clones and 20% seedling. These plantations are expected to increase wood yields by up to 40% over seedling plantations.

As with any new forest management technique a number of steps have to be implemented successfully for a cost effective clonal program. Firstly, a wide range of species, provenance and progeny trials are required as part of a tree improvement strategy to maintain a wide genetic base. From this base only a small number of clones will emerge into the operational planting program having been identified in trials on multiple sites. Nursery technology including clonal garden management is critical and will be very different than seedling management. Coordination of clone demand by site and year require careful planning in order to maximize growth given the higher initial cost of clonal plantations compared to seedling plantations.

Current efforts by SCV is being undertaken on numerous activities. Changing the extensive clonal garden management system to one of micro-cuttings is being done to reduce the cost of each cutting. Field trials of clones on multiple sites are being undertaken to identify disease resistance and the capacity of different clones to respond to available resources such as water and nutrients. Improvements in wood properties include selecting clones for higher wood density as well as for better pulp and paper-making ability. In addition it is being considered to evaluate genetic modification of lignin in certain existing clones to reduce digester charge and/or time thus reducing the cost of pulp.