FAO PUBLICATION ON FORESTRY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY |
| • The role of biotechnologies in forest tree improvement, with special reference to developing countries. FAO Forestry Paper, based on the work of R. Haines. FAO, Rome 1993. Available in English. |
| The above study, carried out under an FAO André Mayer Research Fellowship, reviews the present state and future potential of new biotechnologies in tree improvement in the light of extensive literature reviews, travel and direct contacts with scientists, world-wide. The study, which places the use of biotechnologies within the larger framework of tree improvement, concludes that major emphasis in the improvement of most tropical and sub-tropical species is likely to remain in the near future on studies of variation through species and provenance testing and through field assessment of characteristics under use, coupled with genetic conservation. New technologies may at times support and complement such activities, however, they are not a substitute for traditional, proven methods. The study emphatically stresses that funding channelled towards research in biotechnology should not be at the expense of the development of sound tree improvement programmes, without which potential advantages of such technologies cannot be realised nor maintained. In the short term, early opportunities exist according to the study especially in the use of molecular markers in studies of genetic variation and breeding systems and in the incorporation of micopropagation into integrated multiplication systems of species included in tree breeding programmes. In regard to research, better understanding of molecular-level genetic processes in forest trees, particularly those related to adaptive characteristics and their manipulation, is identified as a priority, together with continued research on genetic engineering on “model species”, which may lay the foundations for later incorporation of new biotechnologies into breeding strategies of both industrial and non-industrial forest species, over time. |
| The above document is available from the Distribution and Sales, or the Forest Resources Division, FAO, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy; and from authorized national sellers of FAO publications. |
