Five more state universities and colleges (SUCs) have been tapped by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to mass produce genetically superior indigenous tree seedlings for the government’s National Greening Program (NGP), bringing the total number of participating SUCs to 25.
DENR Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje recently signed a memorandum of agreement with five SUCs located in Western Visayas for the establishment of clonal nurseries that are expected to produce at least 60,000 native tree seedlings per school, or a total of 300,000 annually to be used for the Aquino administration’s flagship reforestation program.
Under the agreement, the DENR will construct a clonal nursery worth P3.5 million in every campus of the University of Antique in Sibalom, Antique; Capiz State University in Roxas City; Western Visayas College of Science and Technology in La Paz, Iloilo; Central Philippines State University in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental; and Guimaras State College in Buenavista, Guimaras.
“Our plan is to establish a kind of national grid for production of cloned NGP seedlings and that grid is now almost complete with the entry of five new participating SUCs,” Paje said.
The environment chief noted that around 1.36 million native tree seedlings have been contributed this year by 20 other SUCs enrolled in the clonal production project.
Paje said the method produces abundant tree seedlings that are genetically identical to their parent-tree on a year round basis, making it “far more efficient and much faster than the conventional method which make use of seeds gathered from the fruits of the trees.”
“Unfortunately, our native trees, especially the best ones like yakal, kamagong, mayapis, molave, tindalo, toog and teak, bear fruit only every seven to 10 years,” Paje pointed out.
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