A birch was given the honor of cutting the opening ribbon. Skogforsk's newly inaugurated and eight-metre high greenhouse in Ekebo, which will also be a part of Trees For Me, provides great opportunities for in-depth research and increased knowledge about forest tree breeding.
“The forest shall contribute to renewable raw materials, recreational values and the preservation of biological diversity. In order for the forest to fulfill greater demands the forest production efficiency must increase”, said Thomas Kraft, head of breeding at Skogforsk and site manager at the research station in Ekebo, during the opening, which attracted people from the forestry sector and academia.
Charlotte Bengtsson, CEO, and Mihály Czimbalmos, manager of research services at Skogforsk, put visions for the future in a time capsule in the greenhouse's foundation. Photo: Stina Johannesson
The flowering of primarily birch but also spruce and pine will be investigated in the greenhouse and the experiments will have both a research and commercial seed production focus. The knowledge will contribute to finding answers on how to make the trees bloom earlier, which can shorten the time needed for producing a new generation of trees. In the various sections of the greenhouse it will be possible to control the light, heat and carbon dioxide in the air to be able to more closely investigate what aspects that will affect the tree growth.
“The greenhouse is a unique research resource and we predict that future seedlings from this greenhouse will grow approximately 35 % better than plants of previous generations”, said Thomas Kraft.
Page manager: stina.johannesson@slu.se
9/29/2023