First Experience of Paulownia Bellissia® Cultivation in an Agroforestry System in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Paulownia spp. comes from South-East Asia, where there is a tradition of its cultivation. Social pressure, in favour of the use of renewable sources of energy and sustainable agriculture, is on the rise. In this context, agroforestry has become a significant topic of interest. Paulownia spp. could be one of the species utilized in this field. That is why, in 2014, the experimental agroforestry system, which was intended for the production of fodder for farm animals, and also for the production of saw timber, was established in one of the warmest areas of the Czech Republic. The aim of this research was to evaluate the production potential of Paulownia Bellissia®. The measuring of the heights and thicknesses, and the determination of the extent to which the plants were damaged, were conducted during 2017–2020. The plantation consisted of two plots, where the plants on the first plot (treated plants) were regularly irrigated and annually pruned and those on the second (reference plants) were not. The treated plants reached a mean annual increment of 1.6 m in height and 2.8 cm in diameter at breast height, but almost 80 % were sunscalded, whereas the reference plants reached only 1.1 m and 2.0 cm but remained undamaged. Most of the damaged plants were also infested with parasitic fungi Schizophyllum commune and Trametes hirsuta, while the occurrence of S. commune on plantations of Paulownia was found as one of the first discoveries in the Czech Republic.