Summary

A letter/report to us from the Researcher states that there are some real problems with the nursery practices in the industry, to such an extent that they are handing out trees at >$60 each that are less than 15% inoculated. Worse still, some of the trees are inoculated with Brumale – an aggressive, sub-standard truffle that can out-compete melanosporum. The funding she has applied for will initiate research into this issue.

Accordingly, I have agreed to provide $4K of funding (the ANU are providing a researcher for 2 months) to conduct this research that will verify the situation with regard to the condition of the nursery stock that forms the basis for this industry.

Program

New and Emerging Plant Industries

Research Organisation

Australian National University

Objective Summary

Obtain Truffle-infected trees for analysis.