Forest tree seed calendar developed

And now, a forest tree seed calendar.

It’s a calendar that gives one the season for collecting seeds, say those of narra. It tells one, too, on where to gather seeds of rare tree species such as almaciga. Or when the ilang-ilang flowers bloom.

A seed calendar, initially for 62 forest tree species in the Philippines, has been developed and published by the Los Baños-based Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (DENR-ERDB).

The ERDB researchers who gathered the calendar’s data were Maria dP. Dayan, Rosalinda S. Reaviles, and Vivian aP. Abarro.

The data were collected from the seed production areas and other seed sources of DENR regional offices and from studies done by ERDB and the UPLB College of Forestry and Natural Resources.

Included in the calendar are important species (narra, mahogany, molave, yemane, apitong, and kamagong) and some of the species already considered endangered by the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) (almaciga, ipil, kalantas, and tindalo).

"The forest tree seed calendar is a big help in boosting the production of forest tree seedlings in the country," ERDB director Celso P. Diaz said. "Through the calendar, one can be guided in seed collection because it provides information such as the months of flowering, fruiting, maturity, and collection of seeds from specific locations in the country."

Dayan also said that some forest trees can now be mass-produced through vegetative means; but the use of seeds in seedling production remains an effective method for most forest trees.

Reaviles likewise explained that nursery owners can minimize costs in seed collection by consulting the calendar as they plan seedling production activities. – RAF