EFFECT OF GENETIC MATERIAL AND FERTILIZATION ON ESTIMATING THE DRYING POTENTIAL OF Tectona grandis Linn F.

Abstract

Drying is a fundamental step in the lumber production process. The definition of variables that affect the quality of the process, such as initial and final temperatures as well as drying potential, depends on the known technological knowledge of the wood, as well as on the experience of the drying process developed for a particular species. With this in mind, we developed an experiment using wood from four genetic materials (three clones and one seminal) of the species Tectona grandis cultivated with and without fertilization. This was done to estimate and evaluate the parameters used in the explanation of drying programs. The values of the initial and final temperatures, and those of the drying potentials, were estimated using the drastic drying methodology, which evaluates the drying rate and defect score (cracks and collapse). In addition to the drying parameters, the physical properties that affect the drying performance were also evaluated. The results show that origin and fertilization did not affect the initial and final temperatures. However, the potential drying parameters were significantly affected by the combination of treatments. Furthermore, the wood drying potential of certain genetic materials was positively affected by fertilization. Finally, the material from the fertilized areas had the lowest basic densities, the highest initial moisture content, and the highest drying rates.