26 Aug 2010
Dr Robert Hill, from the Bio-Protection Research Centre, Lincoln University has been awarded a 2010 Bayer Innovator Award for his work on Trichoderma bioinoculants for the forestry industry. Biologically-based inoculants reduce chemical use and save the forestry industry millions of dollars a year.
Hill has worked on beneficial fungi for the forestry industry for many years. His research led to the development of ArborGuard, a Trichoderma-based inoculant which is now commonly used on cuttings and seedlings in New Zealand forest nurseries. ArborGuard reduces chemical inputs, increases nursery survival rates and produces larger, healthier seedlings. On top of this, nursery inoculation also reduces Armillaria induced Pinus radiata mortality in forest plantations disease by around 30%. These factors add up to significant cost savings and improved environmental outcomes.
The success of ArborGuard in New Zealand led to collaborative partnership with Sarawak Planted Forests Sdn Bhd and Grand Perfect Sdn Bhd in the Planted Forest Zone (PFZ) of Sarawak, Malaysia where the results have been even better. Just two years after his first visit to the PFZ’s Samarakan Nursery, Hill has developed and trialled a bioinoculant from local Trichoderma isolates which has proved so successful that standard nursery practice has changed from chemical use to Trichoderma inoculation.
A purpose-built facility designed by Hill is now turning out sufficient Trichoderma inoculum to treat all of the nursery’s 30 -50 million Acacia mangium seedlings/annum. Investigations have now moved beyond the nursery to the forest itself where pilot-scale plantation trials of seedlings treated in the nursery are under way, and the early results are very promising with a 20% to 40% reduction in mortality from the best Trichoderma treatment.
Hill was unable to attend the Bayer Innovators Award ceremony as he is currently in Malaysia working on the project, however, having being informed of his success via e-mail he replied “I am honoured to receive this award on behalf of the Bio-Protection Research Centre and all those who have contributed to the successful work with Trichoderma-enhancement of plant growth and health”.
Bio-Protection Research Centre Director Professor Alison Stewart says Dr Hill’s research clearly illustrates the potential of bioprotection research for New Zealand and internationally. “Dr Hill and fellow microbial control researchers at the Centre have proved that biological products can be as effective and economic as chemicals – sometimes more so. The basis of a microbial products industry already exists in New Zealand, and with on-going research, further and more effective products will become available, providing environmentally benign alternatives to existing pest control chemicals, animal health supplements and fertilisers.”
Source: Lincoln University Media release