Propagating orchids by tissue culture technology

Recently, the Institute of Biotechnology – Hue University has applied biotechnology to produce varieties of medicinal plants, flowers and valuable agricultural plants. One of the investment directions is the production of orchid seeds. “Application of scientific and technological advances to build a seedling production model of some valuable orchid species of the genus Hoang Thao and trial planting in Hue City” is planned by the Institute of Biotechnology in the near future.

Assoc.Prof. Nguyen Thi Thu Lien with phalaenopsis seedlings that have been “trained” for 5-6 months

Assoc.Prof. Nguyen Thi Thu Lien, Deputy Director, said: “The demand for flowers, especially orchids, of the people of Hue city is very high. Orchids of the royal family are very popular. Due to the increasing demand of the orchid market, wild orchid species, especially the Hoang Thao group, are being exploited massively, causing scarcity, exhaustion of resources and leading to insufficient supply. Therefore, the Institute carries out research and application of scientific and technological advances to build a model of seedlings production of some orchid species in order to open a new direction of agricultural development for the city. The application of science and technology to propagate and preserve these precious orchid genetic resources and supply products to the market is completely possible and deployable locally.

According to Assoc.Prof. Thu Lien, this propagation method can be applied to most orchids because of its advantage over the traditional method that it is possible to create a large number of seedlings from only a few letters in a short time without consuming too much culture area. The seedlings formed are healthy, grow well, have uniform quality, very suitable for planting on a large scale.

After more than a year of implementation, Assoc.Prof. Thu Lien and his colleagues have successfully cultured a number of phalaenopsis and orchids of the Hoang Thao genus. Currently, in the laboratory and nursery of the Institute, there are a large number of seedlings and seedlings that have been trained for 5-6 months. “The goal of the institute is to produce seedlings in the laboratory to have a trial planting model and then train and replicate the model for farmers. The biggest difficulty at present is funding, so it is very difficult to research and implement. In order to bring to the market in the near future, we urgently need investors and funds to transfer and train to replicate the production model of orchids for farmers,” said Assoc.Prof. Thu Lien.