GO Pineapple.- The first improved radiata plants ready to go to the mountain this autumn.
The genetic improvement of conifers continues to advance in Galicia. A milestone this year will be the upcoming planting on the mountain of 10,000 high-genetic-quality radiata pine plants, obtained through vegetative propagation (cuttings) by the Operative Group Piña.
Within the framework of this project, promoted by the Arume Foundation, three mother-plant plots were established, with a total of 1,890 plants cultivated in hedgerow form for the production of rooted cuttings of Radiata pine. For the selection of material from the mother-tree stands, the vigour and shape of the candidate trees were assessed, based on the Galician seed orchards of radiata pine.
The final selection was made from 12-year-old trees that exhibited high quality, with an average height of over 13 metres, a trunk diameter of 21 centimetres and a good bole.
The mother-root fields are located at the Tragsa forest nurseries (Maceda, Ourense), Hifas Foresta (Beariz, Ourense) and Costa de Lóngaras (Abadín, Lugo).
As a preliminary step to the commercialisation of the forest plant produced in the mother-root fields, these must be registered in the Mother-Root Fields Register of the Directorate-General for Rural Affairs of the Xunta de Galicia, a process currently under way, with the aim of beginning the planting of the plant in the forest in autumn 2026–winter 2027, first with demonstration plots and then with unrestricted commercial sales.
It is planned to plant at least 10,000 selected radiata pine plants in the coming months. This process demonstrates, first and foremost, the feasibility of extending the genetic improvements of the highest-quality trees through vegetative propagation by layering, a technology in which the Galician nurseries have benefited from the technical advice of specialists from the Chilean Forest Genetic Improvement Cooperative.
It should also be borne in mind that, commercially, the recommendation is to establish new stands of radiata pine in areas of Galicia that are not severely affected by band fungi, as to date there is still no radiata pine material resistant to these fungi.
In areas affected by the blight, other conifers more resistant to this disease are, to date, the main alternatives, such as the native pine (Pine maritime) or of the taeda pine.
Country pine (Pine maritime) nematode-resistant
The Pineapple Operative Group has also been working for four years with fields of native pine rootstock (Pine maritimeResistant to the pine nematode, with Tragsa's nursery serving as a reference for this process. As a result of the work carried out, the production of the country's pine forest seedlings resistant to the nematode is now a commercial reality.
The Arume Foundation is confident that the results achieved will encourage more nurseries to incorporate this technology into their production processes for quality plants, so that Galicia can make the genetics of its forest stands more robust and advanced, with better growth and resistance to biotic and abiotic threats.
About the Pineapple Operative Group
The Pineapple Operative Group is made up of the Arume Foundation (coordinating body), the Galician Forestry Association, Hifas Foresta and Costa de Lóngaras Nurseries.
As collaborating entities, there are the Galician Forest Sector Association, the Lourizán Forestry Research Centre and the General Directorate of Forest Planning and Management (Galician Government).
The Group has also entered into separate collaboration agreements with Tragsa and the Chilean Forest Genetic Improvement Cooperative.
The project is co-financed with grants for the implementation of innovative projects by EU IAA operational groups, called for by the Galician Agency for Food and Agricultural Quality (AGACAL).
