Dr. Hirsinger, an expert on Plant Breeding from Germany set up the LIRE Breeding Program. A main risk for investors is the unsure information about the seed yield. In the literature are many figures about the yield which spread around between 1 ton per ha up to 7 tons per ha. Naturally, the yield depends to the geographical location and used soil. If fertilizer or irrigation will be used it could have also a positive effect on the yield. However, it does not matter if the conditions are very good (good soil, hot climate, irrigation, fertilizer) or bad (poor soil, less water, hilly area), the used seed material or cuttings determine the quality of the plant! | |
If the source seed material is of bad quality, the expected output (seed yield) of the plantation will be under its natural potential. The problem is that the Jatropha plant is not domesticated yet. To domesticate the plant, it will take a huge scientific effort and a lot of time.
Dr. Frank Hirsinger was sent out through the Senior Expert Service (SES) from Germany with the aim to establish a Jatropha breeding program. For this purpose Dr. Frank Hirsinger decided to start first with a monitoring program on an existing Jatropha plantation near Vientiane. Supported through the LIRE researcher Thong Lai, they went a couple of times per week to the test-field.
On this two ha huge Jatropha field, there were several different Jatropha genotyps planted two years ago. After a time of observation Dr. Frank Hirsinger selected 21 good plants for further monitoring. He set up a catalogue of parameters which will be documented for the next years, like the diameter of the stemp, the amount of flowers per brunch, total amount of seeds per tree and so on. At the moment the main focus of the monitoring program lies at the seed yield. The monitoring program will also help to identify suitable plants for further breeding means. But first of all it is important to collect as much data as possible for further decision finding.
Moreover, Dr. Frank Hirsinger wrote a report about his activities during his time in Laos and also some impressions about his work at the LIRE office. |
