Agarwood is classified as one of the non-timber forest products which possess a high commercial value. Product of agarwood can be obtained by picking it up from the trees which died naturally. Due to the difficulty in getting dead trees as well as market demand with higher price, people now look for agarwood by cutting down the trees and chopping up the stems to find parts of the wood that contain agarwood. The high exploitation of trees in some areas results in the depletion of the wild resource. One of the conservation efforts to maintain sustainable production of agarwood for the future is through cultivation conducted in various central production areas and suitable sites. The success of cultivation is mainly influenced by the availability of good quality of plants. Hence, the study on seedling maintenance in the nursery done by split plot design with the media as the main plot and NPK fertilizer dose treatment as sub plot can be expected to gain technical information on fertilization for good quality of seedlings. Observation on growth of karas (Aquilaria malaccensis Lamk.) seedlings with four media type treatments (A: soil, B: soil + compost (1:1), C: soil + sand (1:1), and D : soil + compost +sand (1:1:1)), and three NPK fertilizer dose treatments (a : 0 gram, b : two gram, and c: four gram), suggested that media B (mixture soil + compost (1:1)) and D (mixture soil + compost + sand (1:1:1)) with induction of two grams NPK fertilizer produced optimal percentage of growth and quick to reach age ready for planting.

The objective of this study was to investigate the most suitable formula of soybean powder as an artificial food to substitute pollen for development of Apis mellifera L. colony. The study was conducted at Sari Bunga apiary, Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia. Three forms of soybean-based foods: fermented, fried without oil, and boiled soybean were fed to the honeybee colonies inside hives that were reviously installed with or without pollen trap. Completely randomized block design was applied to analyze colony palatability to certain form of soybean and to understand the effect of artificial food on colony development. Results showed that palatability of honeybee to fried soybean was lower than the other two (P<0.01). There was no significant different (P>0.05) of colony development among treatments, observed as percentage of mortality, body weight and protein content of workers, development of colony population. The result further revealed that development of colony populations in hives
installed with pollen trap was lower than those without pollen trap (P<0.01).

A study was carried out from June 2005 to February 2006 in Desa Parit, Kecamatan Sungai Tarab, Kabupaten Tanah Datar, Sumatera Barat Province. The objective of this study was to find out the effect of several dosages of the organic fertilizer from the silkworm farming waste and its combination with chemical fertilizer (urea, TSP, KCl) on mulberry leaf production. The study used Completely Random Design (CRD) with six dosages, namely 1 kg organic fertilizer/tree, 2 kg organic fertilizer/ tree, 1 kg organic fertilizer + 20 g chemical fertilizer/tree, 2 kg organic fertilizer + 20 g chemical fertilizer/tree, 20 g chemical fertilizer/tree, and control (no fertilizer). The result showed that the application differ not significantly for leaves number, but it differ significantly for hight, branches numbers, and leaves weight. The application of 1 kg organic fertilizer + 20 g chemical fertilizer/tree gives the best result for height and leaves weight

The first effort to conserve bats is to understand food preference factor. The aim of the research was to investigate type of plant species eaten by bats and the bats food preferences, including flower corolla, pollen type and pollen dimension. Method used in this study was identification of pollens eaten by the bats using pollen analysis. The study revealed that based on preferences, corolla factor affected bat species that fed on them. Male of Cynopterus titthaecheilus Temminck and male of Eonycteris spelaea Dobson were attracted to stellatus. Female of C. titthaecheilus was attracted to disk, while male of Cynopterus brachyotis Müller, male of Macroglossus sobrinus K. Andersen, and female of E. spelaea were attracted to papilionaceus, tubulosus, and stellatus. Female of Cynopterus minutus Miller and Cynopterus sphinx Vahl were attracted to campanulatus and inflorescences. Female of C. brachyotis was attracted to inflorescences and urceolatus. Pollen types affected bats species, male of C. titthaecheilus was attracted to suboblate. Male of C. brachyotis, male of M. Sobrinus, and female of E. spelaea were attracted to prolate spheroidal, while female of C. titthaecheilus was attracted to oblate. Male of C. brachyotis was attracted to peroblate and prolate, while male of M. sobrinus and female of C. minutus were attracted to perprolate. Female of C. minutus was attracted to perprolate and suboblate. Size of pollen gigantea and magna affected male of C. brachyotis, C. Titthaecheilus, and M. sobrinus; and female of E. spelaea while permagnae showed weak effect on bats.

The manufacturing of medium density fiberboard (MDF) using dry forming process for interior purpose requires extensive amount of thermo-setting urea formaldehyde (UF) adhesive. Unfortunately, this adhesive brings about formaldehyde emission from the resulting MDF, which was potentially harmful to human beings. The use of activated charcoal can be effective to reduce such emission. As the relevance, this research aimed to investigate the effect of activated charcoal addition to the MDF pulp on formaldehyde emission from the MDF. The fibers for the MDF-mat forming were the pulp procured from the MDF factory, resulting from the thermo-mechanical pulping (TMP) conducted on the mixed mangium wood (Acacia mangium) and rubber wood (Hevea brasiliensis) in 3:1 (w/w) proportion, respectively. Such mixed TMP pulping was also done in the factory. The bonding between TMP pulp fiber during mat forming was assisted by the use of UF adhesive. Prior to the MDF mat forming, was added to the resulting TMP pulp-fibers activated charcoal in various amount, 2%, 4% and 6% based on fiber mass as well as based on UF adhesive mass. The activated charcoal was prepared by carbonizing candle nut shell into charcoal followed by activation process using phosphate solution. Meanwhile the forming of MDF mat employed air-dry process. As the control, MDF forming with UF adhesive was performed without addition of activated charcoal. It turned out that the activated charcoal-added MDF exhibited effective reduction in formaldehyde emission and significant improvement in physical and mechanical properties, i.e. lower thickness swelling, and greater MOR, MOE and internal bond, compared to the control MDF. The use of activated charcoal at 4% based on the adhesive mass seemed to be the optimum amount. Physical and mechanical properties of the activated charcoal added MDF could mostly meet the JIS specification

PREFACE

This report signifies as part of research results from the output entitled “Better Inoculation-Engineering Techniques”, which comprised three activities, namely (1) Selecting Suitable Inoculums; (2) Developing Several Prospective Inoculants in Large Scale; and (3) Implementing Several Prospecting Inoculums for Artificial Inducement. The technical report of this output reflects the very substantial spirits as accomplished from the development of gaharu-inoculation technology funded by the ITTO PD425/06 Rev.1 (I) Project, entitled “Production and Utilization Technology for Sustainable Development of Eaglewood (Gaharu) in Indonesia”.
Those three above-mentioned activities presented the research which was very closely related and conducted by the expert researchers who were very proficient in their field. The isolates of gaharu-developing fungi were procured from the Indonesia’s tropical forest, then selected and tested in adequate sample-amount, thereby greatly assisting their selection process based on multi-locations and differing-conditions.
This report provides information about the selection process and testing on isolates that developed gaharu at different species of indicatively gaharu-yielding trees, and the realization process was measured and evaluated thoroughly and properly.

Maman Turjaman
Project Coordinator ITTO PD425/06 Rev.1 (I)
R & D Centre for Forest Conservation and Rehabilitation
FORDA, the Ministry of Forestry, Indonesia