Abstract

The productivity of eucalypt plantations in Kerala is considerably low. Seeds of poor genetic quality in addition to high disease pressure, soil factors and poor management are some of the main reasons for low productivity of eucalypts. The two diseases, which have affected eucalypt yield significantly, are pink disease (PD) and Cylindrocladium leaf blight (CLB) . For increasing the yield through tree improvement, multilocational provenance trials were established to identify the best provenances suited to Kerala. Each provenance was assessed for growth, and the incidence and severity of CLD and PD. So far 80 clones have been developed from phenotypically superior Candidate Plus Tree of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Eucalyptus tereticornis, identified in the provenance trials. The paper provides results of provenance trials and compares the growth and biomass of various promising clones