Botanical Farmer
Breeder Producer: To develop and produce trees identical to the parent tree for the purpose of propagating desirable traits.
Scientific breeders working through genetic and molecular engineering
and asexual propagation are producing trees that are more resistant to
disease as well as more productive.
Scientific breeders pursue solutions to a variety of problems that
range from designing trees that are better fruit producers to helping
preserve species threatened by disease. Answers are elusive and
research can take years and follow an unpredictable course before
bearing results.
"It's a five to ten-year effort, but worth it, because it eliminates
variations like growth rate, size, disease resistance and nutritional
requirements," said Frank Sharpe, a retired researcher for the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Researchers need a doctorate degree in their field, although scientific
breeding also offers a variety of opportunities in support areas that
require a less formal education, for those who have an understanding of
aboriculture.
Scientific breeders are found in both the private and public sectors,
working for private nurseries as well as nonprofit organizations and
government agencies.
Organizations such as the American Chestnut Foundation are working to
preserve tree species like the American chestnut tree that are
threatened by disease. Through the foundation, scientists are working
to produce a strain of American chestnut resistant to Chestnut blight.
They hope to one day produce a tree indistinguishable from the American
chestnut with the disease resistance of the Chinese chestnut.
Scientific breeders are also helping shape the urban forest through
their work in developing new cultivars that can thrive within the city
environment.
Dr. Greg McPherson of the U.S. Forest Service said that city ordinances
governing street trees need to be based on science and that more input
by scientific breeders is needed.
Scientific breeders are helping the urban forest take root by
developing trees that are more upright and require less pruning and
whose root systems grow without disrupting concrete sidewalks.
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