Vietnamese people find ways to multiply eucalyptus clones

A Vietnamese graduate student majoring in biotechnology in the agro-forestry plant that is about to complete his doctoral thesis at USC University in Australia has developed a new method of breeding new tropical hardwood plants.

This way shortens the time to plant trees in the plantations as well as brings great potential for the construction industry and environmental protection.

Mr. Cao Dinh Hung.

Cao Dinh Hung's 36-year-old study was published in the Australian Plant Journal and is watched by Australian media.

Cao Dinh Hung said that his work is a clonal line of hybrid eucalyptus seeds between a wild species capable of resisting cold climate and pest but poor growth (Eucalyptus Torelliana) and a species It is resistant to cold and pests but grows very fast and gives good wood quality (Eucalyptus Citriodora).

Seeding and cuttings methods do not achieve good results because hybrids germinate very poorly and the rooting rate of cuttings is very low, so there is not enough seedlings to plant and select the lines.

The method of clonal cloning in vitro combined with the production of "new type" of Cao Dinh Hung has overcome these two disadvantages, ie, about 10 million seedlings can be produced annually from each year. an original hybrid seed.

This way meets the needs of planting forests and selecting good growth lines, absorbing a lot of CO ₂ in the air, resisting good cold prices . in order to replace gradually inferior eucalypt forests. in Queensland and some other parts of Australia.

In addition, by this combination method, Cao Dinh Hung has also studied on African mahogany, a tree that is favored by Australia because it provides better wood than eucalyptus and has high medicinal value. used to treat cancer, malaria and diarrhea, but are at risk of extinction due to overexploitation.

Previously, Cao Dinh Hung also studied the medicinal value of wasabi plants originating from Japan to serve food technology and cure cancer. This work, also the master's thesis of Hung, was ranked first at the University of Technology Sydney in 2007.

According to USC Associate Professor Stephen Trueman, the leading Australian rainforest research facility, Cao Dinh Hung's method is the easiest and fastest way to plant trees.

Normally, only 100 plants can be produced per year from a single seed, but with this method, 10 million plants can be produced each year in the laboratory and nursery.

Thanks to that method, people can choose the trees with the best wood quality to grow and absorb the most CO ₂ in the environment.

Researcher Cao Dinh Hung said that he wanted to complete a doctoral thesis on propagation of hardwood trees in order to improve the quality of tree planting in Australian and Vietnamese forest enterprises in order to support the reduction of billion. rules for deforestation and environmental protection.

Australia and Vietnam are among the top 10 countries in the world for eucalyptus cultivation, with an area of ​​about 900,000 ha in Australia and 600,000 ha in Vietnam.