Applications of Biotechnology in Forestry

Abstract

Land is the most fundamental resource of a country and as a result of the high rate of population growth in India, the pressure to produce more food, fodder, timber and fuelwood from the available land is intense. Land use, therefore, needs judicious planning. India has about 130 Mha of wastelands. Wastelands are defined as lands that are degraded and are lying unutilised due to constraints such as salinity, alkalinity, waterlogging, wind and water erosion, etc. Since wastelands are degraded and unsuitable for agriculture, they can be utilised to meet the growing demand for fuelwood, fodder, small timber and industrial wood. Not only do we have to reclaim the wastelands but we should also try and protect our forest cover which is being depleted at the rate of 1.3 Mha per year. Efforts are also required to step up the existing per hectare yield of 0.2 m3 to 2–3 m3. The need of the hour is a quantum jump in existing afforestation targets. The plan is to afforest wastelands at a rate of 5 Mha per annum. Such large-scale plantations will demand a large amount of planting material (seeds or seedlings) and in order to achieve higher yields, it is important that these planting materials are of good quality. This means a high yielding plant which is also resistant to different diseases and pests. Such plants can be obtained by conventional methods of tree breeding and non-conventional methods of genetic engineering and somatic hybridisation. Unlike annual crops, the breeding behavior of trees is complex and their life-cycle long. Therefore, it takes many years to produce a variety with desirable traits. However, the development of modern non-conventional methods of genetic engineering, tissue culture and somatic hybridisation has offered new ways to enhance forest productivity more rapidly. By these methods, it has become possible to develop such varieties of ornamental and crop plants, with many desirable traits such as fast growth, high yield, disease resistance, herbicide and stress tolerance, etc. in a much shorter time than that taken by the conventional methods. However, this quick, non-conventional methodology of producing plants is very expensive. Since both the methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, it will be prudent to combine the conventional methods and the new methods of biotechnology to increase productivity, both qualitatively and quantitatively, in order to achieve the desired goals.