Cooperative international provenance trial of Paraserianthes falcataria

The performance of various provenances of Paraserianthes falcataria or Moluccan sau were compared in the concession of PICOP Resources, Inc. to determine which particular seed sources were best for planting in the area. The study used 16 provenances of Moluccan sau from Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Island, India, various parts of Indonesia, and PICOP white falcata and PICOP pink falcata. Based on dbh, height and survival measured at 18, 24 and 30 months, the Provenance from Solomon Island performed the best, followed by PICOP white. After 18 months, the Solomon provenance was found to be significantly different in terms of dbh and height growth. However, there were no significant differences in terms of survival. On the 30th month, Solomon provenance obtained the largest diameter followed by PICOP white and Wando provenance (Indonesia) but the differences were not statistically significant. Solomon provenance registered an average height growth of 4.5 m/year followed by PICOP white at 4.4 m/year, Wando at 4.3 m/year, PICOP pink at 4.05 m/year and Java at 3.25 m/year. After three years, Solomon provenance had significantly different dbh from PICOP pink and Bosnik (Indonesia) but not from PICOP white and Wando provenance. Solomon provenance grew at an average of 5.4 cm dbh a year, followed by PICOP pink at 3.9 cm and Bosnik at 3.8 cm. The biggest dbh recorded was 31 cm for Solomon provenance. In terms of height, PICOP white was the tallest but this was not significantly different from Solomon and Wando provenances, PICOP pink and Bosnik. Solomon provenance had a survival rate of 80%, PICOP white and pink both 90%, and Wando provenance had the highest at 93% but these differences were not statistically significant