A comparison of pod production and insect ratings of 12 elite Prosopis alba clones in a 5-year semi-arid Argentine field trial

Semi-arid adapted nitrogen fixing trees of the genus Prosopis have been extensively used in Argentina for soil improvement, luxury quality lumber production and sweet (35% sucrose) pods for humans and livestock. Due to the great demand of Prosopis alba for lumber, erect, tall, high pod producing trees of this species have been greatly overharvested, leading to erosion of the gene pool. A previous progeny trial with 57 half sib families identified 12 trees with promise for rapid growth, high production of pods and sweet pods. This trial, on a site with a salinity of 8.6 dS m−1 EC and a pH of 7.7, examined clones of these 12 trees in a randomized complete block trial with 8 single tree replications for height, basal diameter, canopy height and diameter, production of pods, sensory characteristics of the pods, disease resistance and insect resistance. In the 5th year of production and 7th year from planting, three clones produced more than 50 kg pods per tree versus 32 kg for check. At this 10 m × 10 m spacing, this yield of 5000 kg/ha compares favorably to many other semi-arid crops, especially given the unfavorable salinity and pH. In contrast to genetic improvement in pod production, the clones had lower diameter, height and canopy growth than the check. The lower biomass production may be due to fibrous root system produced from cuttings, since some of the clones blew over in high winds but none of the checks produced from seed blew over. Companion seed orchards of salt tolerant clones may provide rootstock for these high pod production clones. Significant differences in insect and disease resistance of the clones were observed and full sib crosses were made to study the genetics of the resistance. All clones had good sensory properties for use in human food. This is the first replicated trial with multipurpose clones useful for lumber and human food. The annual diameter growth rates ranged from 2.8 to 4.1 cm year−1 which was estimated to produce an internal return of approximately 20% from lumber alone.