Novel propagation and conservation technologies for Australian macadamia (2021–2025)
Abstract:
Australias $850M macadamia industry is a booming contributor to regional growth with a strong domestic market
niche. However the industry is threatened by a severe plant supply bottleneck. Also wild germplasm for breeding
is threatened with extinction. This project aims to innovate world-first tissue culture technologies for macadamia
propagation and secure cryo-storage of germplasm, aided by cutting edge genomics. Expected outcomes of these
new, cross-disciplinary techniques are on-demand supply of superior trees to growers and the protection of
invaluable germplasm. This should provide significant benefits for industry growth, food security and conservation
de-risked from global change.