SELECTION AND CLONAL MULTIPLICATION OF SUPERIOR TREES OF TEAK (TECTONA GRANDIS) AND PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF CLONES

Teak (tectona grandis) is a valued timber species renowned for its durability and stability. experiments have been conducted for the feasibility of establishing clonal plantations of teak with high yielding clones to enhance productivity. a total of 41 outstanding trees were selected from plantations in different parts of kerala with a selection intensity of 0.3 to 0.5%, of which 13 trees showed substantially superior height (30–35 m) and girth at breast height (gbh) (151–220 cm). more than 30% increase in height and gbh was observed in 7 and 14 trees respectively, compared with trees in plantations, indicating the superiority of the selected trees and the possibility of increasing the productivity through clonal plantation. the selected trees were multiplied clonally using coppice shoots and subsequent mass propagation from a vegetative multiplication garden. rooting in the clones reached a range of 45–100%. clone npt110 exhibited maximum height (35 m) and gbh (220 cm) with 100% rooting ability. this suggests that it may be a promising clone for large-scale plantings. the selected clones also showed better growth performance in the field than seedlings of local seed lots. it is thus recommended for ex situ preservation of superior genotypes of teak in breeding programmes.