Mass production of self-rooted Hevea brasiliensis industrial clones by tissue culture and nursery methods

Industrial clonal plantations of Hevea brasiliensis, more commonly known as rubber tree, have been established for several decades with grafted/budded plants as an alternative to the mass clonal propagation of the mature selected industrial clones on their own roots. Substantial investments have been devoted for many years to the development of tissue culture techniques focussing on somatic embryogenesis an d micropropagation by axillary budding to reach this goal but with limited success. The recent mass production of self-rooted H.brasiliensis industrial clones by nursery methods provides the opportunity to assess the respective pros and cons of in vitro versus nursery vegetative propagation methods for mass producing industrial clones of the rubber tree. (Résumé d'auteur