In an effort to improve the supply of wood in the country, the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) approved the funding for a project on conservation and implementation of production protocols for industrial tree plantation species.
The project, “Conservation and Mass Production of High yielding Falcata Seed Sources in Mindanao,” aims to select the best performing seed sources from the falcata multi-location trials in Mindanao and develop techniques on the mass production of superior seed sources via clonal propagation.
It will develop conservation and production protocols for high-yielding and resistant falcata seed sources. This was recently approved for implementation by the Central Mindanao University (CMU).
DOST-PCAARD said that the output of this project will be important in the long-term eradication of underperforming or low-quality falcata populations in the country especially those being used or sold widely by tree farmers and wood industries in Mindanao. These efforts are expected to improve the wood supply in the country and hence the income of farmers engaged tree farming
The newly approved project also aims to develop information, education, and communication (IEC) materials, which will feature protocols on falcata clonal seed orchard establishment and clonal propagation techniques, for dissemination or capacity-building needs of falcata farmers in Mindanao.
This serves as the second phase of the project “Advancement of Science for the Sustainable Utilization and Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources of Falcata and Yemane,” which involves selecting information on the best genetic performance from seed lots collected from various sources that will eventually produce superior trees of yemane and falcata