Frost tolerance study

Press, 26 October 1984, Page 24

Frost tolerance study

Experiments are under way at the D.S>l.R.’s climate laboratory to test the frost tolerance of over 20 plant types currently being exported from New Zealand. The laboratory, at the Plant Physiology Division in Palmerston North, is also being used to evaluate new varieties with export potential. This work is just one evidence of the nursery industry’s growing interest in research and development, according to Dr John Troughton, an assistant director-general of the D.S.I.R. Contract work by D.S.I.R. divisions for specific nursery and plant propagation companies is on the increase, he said. Dr Troughton said such contract arrangements to solve problems for individual clients were common in all areas of the department’s work, including horticulture. A contract makes the specialist resources of the D.S.I.R. available confiden-

tially and at standard charge rates. The cash value of nursery and cut flower crops is now about $lOO million per year at the farm gate, including some $lO million in export earnings. Cut flower exports to Australia alone are now worth more than $1 million a year. The industry also provides plant material for fruit crops and shelter trees. “The frost tolerance research contributes towards the export requirement for plants with the ability to survive and grow well in the climates of importing countries,” Dr Troughton said. “The plants are subjected to artificial frost throughout the year to test their tolerance during autumn, winter and spring. In many areas, unseasonal frost can be more damaging than winter frosts.” Included in the study are New Zealand natives, fruit crops such as feijoa and ornamentals like daphne and juniper. The climate laboratory r

can produce temperatures down to minus 25 degrees and the research takes frosting through until the plant dies. D.S.I.R. support for the nursery industry also includes its annual grant to the nursery research centre, Dr Troughton said. Since 1978 the department has met nearly, half the centre’s operating costs, with the 1983-84 grant totalling $37,000. The centre is located on the Massey University campus and is currently looking to build new facilities. During its ten years of operation the centre has specialised in propagating “high health” plant material — virus-free varieties important for export as well as the home market. It has developed new techniques for propagating deciduous trees and shrubs and new systems for growing plants in containers. The centre has also been called on to help combat plant diseases and other industry problems as they have arisen, for example in camellia exports. t -'f