Flood-irrigated Tropical Timber Trials in the North of Western Australia NOVEMBER 2012 RIRDC Publication No. 12/044 Flood-irrigated Tropical Timber Trials in the North of Western Australia by Dr Liz Barbour1,2, Professor Julie Plummer2 and Len Norris1,3 November 2012 RIRDC Publication No. 12/044 RIRDC Project No. PRJ-002676 © 2012 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. All rights reserved. ISBN 978-1-74254-493-9 ISSN 1440-6845 Flood-irrigated Tropical Timber Trials in the North of Western Australia Publication No. 12/044 Project No. PRJ-002676 The information contained in this publication is intended for general use to assist public knowledge and discussion and to help improve the development of sustainable regions. You must not rely on any information contained in this publication without taking specialist advice relevant to your particular circumstances. While reasonable care has been taken in preparing this publication to ensure that information is true and correct, the Commonwealth of Australia gives no assurance as to the accuracy of any information in this publication. The Commonwealth of Australia, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), the authors or contributors expressly disclaim, to the maximum extent permitted by law, all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any act or omission, or for any consequences of any such act or omission, made in reliance on the contents of this publication, whether or not caused by any negligence on the part of the Commonwealth of Australia, RIRDC, the authors or contributors. The Commonwealth of Australia does not necessarily endorse the views in this publication. This publication is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. However, wide dissemination is encouraged. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the RIRDC Publications Manager on phone 02 6271 4165. Researcher Contact Details 1Dr Liz Barbour and Len Norris 2Dr Liz Barbour and Prof Julie Plummer 3Len Norris Forest Products Commission University of Western Australia Dept Agriculture and Food WA Locked Bag 888 35 Stirling Highway Locked Bag 4 Perth BC WA 6849 Crawley WA 6009 Bentley delivery centre WA 6983 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] In submitting this report, the researcher has agreed to RIRDC publishing this material in its edited form. RIRDC Contact Details Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Level 2, 15 National Circuit BARTON ACT 2600 PO Box 4776 KINGSTON ACT 2604 Phone: 02 6271 4100 Fax: 02 6271 4199 Email: [email protected]. Web: http://www.rirdc.gov.au Electronically published by RIRDC in November 2012 Print-on-demand by Union Offset Printing, Canberra at www.rirdc.gov.au or phone 1300 634 313 ii Foreword This report records a joint project between the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), the Forest Products Commission of Western Australia, Elders Forestry and the University of Western Australia to ensure that the original plantation trials and plantings of tropical tree species in the Ord River Irrigation Scheme (ORIS) on the Frank Wise Institute site were assessed and published. Sixteen trials were selected to provide scientific information on: • sandalwood (Santalum album) growth rates, heartwood and oil production, and product definition • African mahogany (Khaya senagalensis) growth rates • teak (Tectona grandis) growth rates • pongamia (Millettia pinnata) growth rates, seed production and seed oil quality • identification of other tropical species that could either be used as a long-term host for sandalwood or as a tropical timber project for the north of Australia. This set of trials holds valuable information which has and will assist in all aspects of the developing essential oil and plantation industry in the north of Western Australia and similar developing tropical forestry industries in Queensland and Northern Territory. The report provides a perspective of different tree systems and their performance in flood-irrigated systems. The sandalwood trials selected demonstrate a variety of silviculture systems. Outstanding trees, far beyond expectations, were found within these trials. As with any plantation program, the aim of breeders and silviculturalists alike is to uniformly repeat this exceptional performance in every tree across each hectare of plantation. Tree distribution required to optimise a site for sandalwood performance was investigated and discussed. Prior to this report, sandalwood growth analyses were either on young plantations where inter-tree competition had not emerged as a parameter or on singled-out older trees. The analysis of each of these trials explores the average expected performance with different silviculture management systems. New crop development is not encouraged when land valuation is as high as is presently being experienced in the ORIS. Whereas annual crops can be manipulated to produce multiple generations within a year, the first full-rotation commercial harvest of sandalwood will only occur in 2016 (a 15- year rotation) and similarly with other tropical species. Sandalwood oil, at present, has a high commercial potential that can support this slow development cycle. However, other tropical timber species need to confront a range of issues before being considered viable. This report is an addition to RIRDC’s diverse range of over 2100 research publications and it forms part of our Essential Oils and Plant Extracts R&D program. RIRDC's vision for this program is of a profitable and sustainable industry producing essential oils and plant extracts of the quality and content that meets customers' evolving demands. Most of RIRDC’s publications are available for viewing, free downloading or purchasing online at www.rirdc.gov.au. Purchases can also be made by phoning 1300 634 313. Craig Burns Managing Director Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation iii About the Authors The Forest Products Commission is a Western Australian state agency that was formed out of the Department of Conservation and Land Management in 2000. A number of researchers and technicians have been responsible at various stages for the establishment and management of a series of tropical tree trials at the Frank Wise Institute in the Ord River Irrigation Area. It is through this commitment by the West Australian State Government that demonstration trails, research information and germplasm has been made available to establish three budding tropical forestry industries: tropical sandalwood (Santalum album), African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis) and teak (Tectona grandis). The management and research associated with these trials provides continued support for these fledgling industries. Dr Liz Barbour and Len Norris were the two researchers from the Forests Products Commission responsible for management and research program development during the period of this RIRDC- supported project. Dr Barbour is now with the University of Western Australia and Len Norris is seconded to the Department of Agriculture and Food in Western Australia. Professor Julie Plummer is a plant scientist from the University of Western Australia. She has been studying production of tropical timbers and oil biosynthesis in sandalwood for most of the last decade. She is the chief investigator on the Australian Research Council Linkage Project (LP0882690) ‘Elucidation of genetic and physiological factors controlling biosynthesis of sesquiterpenoids in sandalwood, Santalum spp’, and the ARC Linkage Project LP100200016 ‘Molecular characterisation of the fungal disease defence response in tropical sandalwood (Santalum album)’. iv Acknowledgments We acknowledge and are grateful for the assistance provided by the following: • Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, especially Dr Ros Prinsley (former employee) and Ms Alison Saunders, for supporting this project so that these trials could be documented • Forest Products Commission, especially Gavin Butcher, Peter Jones (former employee) and Grant Pronk (former employee), for ensuring the management of the site so that this work could be undertaken. John Streatfield (former employee) managed the site and assisted with the harvesting during the period of this project. Dr Andrew Lyon completed the acoustic time-of-flight measurement on sandalwood • Elders Forestry for their financial and in-kind support for the project. This project was initiated with Dr Andrew Callister (former employee) and passed over to Dr Marie Connett • PhD students at the University of Western Australia: Jessie Moniodis (University of Western Australia) for her technical assistance with the sandalwood oil analyses and Ni Luh Arpiwi for completing the seed oil analyses for Millettia • Dr Chris Jones (University of Western Australia), Professor Joerg Bohlmann (University of British Columbia, Canada) and Dr Katherine Zulak (formerly University of British Columbia, Canada) for their thoughtful suggestions regarding aspects of sesquiterpene oil synthesis in this project and during its development and analysis • Dr Andrew Callister of Treehouse Consulting who developed the individual tree-competition indices and undertook the analysis • Craig Hallam of Enspec for undertaking the electrical impedance tomography. v Abbreviations Institutions/Organisations ACIAR Australian Centre for International Agricultural