Smashing the avocado production bottleneck
(World News Science)

A method of supplying 500 times more avocado plants to industry than is currently possible has been invented by University of Queensland researchers. The new stem cell multiplication method could double avocado production in Queensland, as well as reducing the time it takes for new avocado varieties to reach commercial orchards from 10 years to three years or less. Professor Neena Mitter from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, a UQ research institute supported by the Queensland Government, is leading the project. `At present, to supply new trees, the avocado industry follows the...