KFRI Research Report No - Kerala Forest Research Institute

3.4.3. Acacia species recommended for planting in KeralaSelected provenances of A. mangium, A. auriculiformis and A. crassicarpa can be plantedin Kerala (Table 23). Performance of A. aulacocarpa (A. peregrina) is poor when thegrowth of other three species is considered. A. mangium provenances are the mostpreferred as its provenances are faster in growth than A. auriculiformis and A.crassicarpa especially in medium to high rainfall areas with comparatively fertile soil. A.auriculiformis provenances can come up in comparatively dry area with unfertile soilalso. A. crassicarpa is not popular in Kerala so far. It has luxuriant foliage but less thanthat of A. mangium. All the four species have nitrogen fixing ability as evident from rootnodulation. But, A. auriculiformis and A. mangium roots nodulate profusely especially indegraded acidic soils of Kerala. A. mangium and A. auriculiformis are the most widelyplanted species among exotic acacias in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines(Wood and Awang, 1998). Eldoma and Awang (1999) reported the site adaptability of allthe four species in several tropical countries of South and South East Asia, the Far Eastand Africa and concluded that Papua New Guinea (PNG) provenances performed betterthan other provenances. The performance of the species varied depending upon theclimate of the country. In our trial also PNG provenances have performed better thanother provenances.Table 22. List of Acacia provenances affected by pink diseaseSl. No. Provenance Name SeedlotNo.A. auriculiformis1 SPRINGVALE (HALF-SIBPROGENY)36MPMKarnatakaSeverityLowA. mangium2 MOREHEAD 17868 LowA. aulacocarpa3 SAMFORD 17891 Low4 PNG PROV. SEED ORCH. 19301 LowA. crassicarpa5 DIMISSI VILLAGE WP 18202 Low6 BENSBACH WP 18836 Low