Forestry

Advanced breeding and deployment methods for tropical acacias

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Project code
FST/2008/007
Program
Budget
AUD 1,175,704
Research program manager
Dr Nora Devoe
Project leader
Rod Griffin, University of Tasmania
Commissioned organisation
University of Tasmania
Duration:
JUN 2009
MAY 2015
Project status
Concluded
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Overview

This project was designed to strengthen the tree improvement capability of Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences (VAFS) through increasing sophistication in both strategies and technologies.

It built on a substantial body of work in Vietnam in the breeding of acacia species and hybrids, which enhanced the production of high-value germplasm required to meet the Government of Vietnam's objectives for an expanded plantation estate for sawlog and fibre production. The project comprised a key element in a suite of linked ACIAR projects designed to underpin the sustainability of, and add value to, Vietnam's acacia and eucalypt plantation estates, and the processing industries based on them.

Vietnam now has an acacia plantation estate of over 400,000 ha, including over 150,000 ha of clonal Acacia mangium X A. auriculiformis (A. hybrid), whose large-scale operational use has been pioneered by Vietnamese scientists.

Project outcomes

  • Designed and implemented an enhanced clonal production and deployment strategy to deliver an ongoing stream of tested A. hybrid clones to tree farmers throughout Vietnam (the program integrated appropriate breeding, seed production management, propagation and information management strategies).
  • Refined and demonstrated deployment strategies for sexually propagated A. mangium, to expand use of seed from the elite selections planted in the Forest Science Institute of Vietnam orchards.
  • Continued development of new polyploid varieties with potential for improved wood properties and reproductive sterility.
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Key partners
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
Forest Science Institute of Vietnam
Documents