PERFORMANCE OF SOME AUSTRALASIAN ACACIAS 3.5 YEARS AFTER PLANTING AT MAKOKA, MALAWI

Abstract

Fifteen species and provenances of Australasian acacias selected by matching the climate of the planting site in Malawi and seed collection sites in Australia and Papua New Guinea were grown for 3.5 y at Makoka, Malawi. The climate at Makoka is sub-humid, with a unimodal rainfall regime (November-April) and annual total rainfall range between 850 and 1200 mm. The three provenances of Acacia auriculiformis tested were clearly superior to the rest of the species in growth and biomass production, producing a total biomass of 46-54 t ha^-1 dry wt in 3.5 y. Other fast-growing species included Acacia glaucocarpa, (28.5 t ha^-1), A. neriifolia, (26.4t ha^-1), A. holosericea (25.3 tha^-1) and A. aulacocarpa (21.81 ha^-1). The rest of the species grew poorly with below average production when compared to fast growing multi-purpose trees (MPTs) in Southern Africa. The selection of. A. auriculiformis, A. holosericea, A. aulacocarpa, A. glaucocarpa, A. neriifolia, A. crassicarpa and A. difficilis by climatic matching of seed sources and the planting site out-performed previous provenances tested at Makoka while in the other species it was not very successful. The use of this model for germplasm aquisition together with characterising the species special site requirements like obligate symbionts is recommended.