Le Dinh Kha et al
I. Introduction
The forest cover in Vietnam was estimated at 43 per cent in 1945. Through long years of wars, exploitative timber extraction and continued conversion of forest land to food and cash crop farming, it has shrunk to only 29 per cent in 1990, which has caused the Government to shape out a nation wide plantation programme to grow five million hectares of forest plantations, of which two million are mainly for timber production and one million for environmental protection. Following this, the production of improved seeds and planting materials for higher performance of the plantations to be established, especially those meant for timber production, is much needed. Under the Vietnamese conditions, timber production reaches only 2-3 cu.m per hectare and per year in natural forests and 5-8 cu.m per hectare annually in plantations. The same, in particular in well managed plantations in some other countries can go up to 40-50 cu.m per ha/annum. This is the reason why the selection and breeding of forest trees and the propagation of valuable cultigens and improved cultivars in forestry has become a focus for further development of this sub-sector.
The national research programme KHCN 08.04 (dealing with selection, breeding and propagation of some forest tree species mainly used in plantations for the period 1996-2000 to back up the implementation of the National Five Million Plantation Programme) is an extension of the research programme KN 03.03 for the period 1991-1995, and in fact is an integrated programme for better coordination of all research activities carried out by the Forest Tree Breeding Centre (TTG) (below referred to as the Breeding Centre) and funded by a number of resource bodies. Besides the resources from the National Budget, the Breeding Center, these last years, has made efficient use of the funds provided by SIDA-SAREC and of parts of the resources coming from its cooperation with ACIAR and CSIRO. Working in the Research Programme is a group of scientific workers of the Breeding Center, other Departments and Regional Centres of FSIV (Forest Science Institute of Vietnam), and also Provincial and Corporate Research Centers interested in forest tree breeding and improved seed production.
Latest news
- Project: Research on selection and breeding of Acacia hybrid and Acacia auriculiformis for timber plantation in main ecological regions
- National seed orchard of Pinus merkusii
- National seed orchard of Acacia auriculiformis
- National seed orchard of Acacia mangium
- National seed orchard of Eucalyptus camaldulensis
Oldest news
- research on formulation of scientific and technological basis for supplying improved planting materials of forest trees
- Breeding of Camellia oleosa having high yield for Lang Son area (1987 - 1990)
- Propagation of Eucalyptus hybrids (E. exserta x E. tereticornis) by tissue culture
- Propagation of rattan (Calamus platyacanthus Warb.) by tissue culture
- Conservation of genetic diversity and forest tree improvement
