Plantation-grown Teak (Tectona grandis) in the Cote d'Ivoire

Abstract

Teak, 21,000 hectares of which have been planted since 1963, is the major reforestation species in the Cote-d'Ivoire. For several decades it has been the subject of much research in the fields of sylviculture, genetic improvement, and wood technology.
Sylvicultural rules pertaining to the management of plantations have been laid down. A yield table has been established. Productivity varies between 5 and 15 m³ per hectare per year, depending on the fertility of the reforestation sites.
Analysis of the genetic variability of the provenances introduced was followed by the phenotypic massal selection of about a hundred trees. After seven years of vegetation, the clone-seed orchard produces an untested population variety. The genetic thinning of the orchard based on descendence tests will ensure the production of a tested variety through a recombination of the best progenitors.
Numerous technological tests of the physical and mechanical characteristics and appearance of the woods have been carried out. The plantation-grown Teak is of excellent quality, and differs little from that produced by Asiatic natural forests.