Evaluation of Provenances of Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis and Pinus tecunumanii for the Sites of Western Ghats for Raising Pulpwood Plantations

There is an ever increasing demand for long fibre forest raw material due to depletion of Bamboos by the paper industry in India. Fourteen provenances of Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis and six provenances of Pinus tecunumanii were tested in the site to find out the desirable provenances for higher and sustainable productivity. Growth parameters assessed indicated that the differences in height and dbh were not significant for the provenances of Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis while the differences were significant for the provenances of Pinus tecunumanii. Growth comparison under field conditions indicated that the site conditions are ideally suited for the growth of Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis where as they are hotter than that of native habitat for Pinus tecunumanii and hence Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis is grown on large scale and Pinus tecunumanii is considered as secondary species. 4H and 13H Queensland provinces, Mt. Pine Ridge provenance from Belize, and La Brea, Bros Laguna, Los Limones, Tierra Blanca and Culmi provenance from Honduras of Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis are desired for bigher and sustained productivity.