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Home → Publications → The Genetics and Breeding of Southern Pines → Part VI. Breeding and Southern Pines → Chapter 21 - Combined Breeding and Seed Production in Clonal Orchards and Seed Production Areas

Chapter 21 - Combined Breeding and Seed Production in Clonal Orchards and Seed Production Areas

The second most important job in tree breeding, after establishment of the biological basis for developing genetically better pines, is to produce seed in large volume. This is not a small task. With seedling production in the South at some 400 million a year and assuming a yield of about 10,000 seedlings per pound of seed, the yearly seed requirements amount to about 40,000 pounds. In comparison with an agricultural crop that can be machine sown, tended, and harvested, this is not a particularly large volume, but when we consider the hand labor required for collecting pine seed, and the equipment needed for extraction, cleaning, and storage, it becomes a job offormidable proportions. This problem of producing seed in volume must be a major consideration in any breeding method. The situation is analogous to some problems in industrial research and development: A process of technique that was fairly simple in the laboratory may be impossible or immensely costly under production conditions for commercial use.


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Author(s): Keith W. Dorman

Publication: The Genetics and Breeding of Southern Pines - Part VI. Breeding and Southern Pines