Dr Nguyen Hoang Nghia

These include Acacia auriculiformis AA9, which is listed in VUSTA’s (Vietnam Union of Science & Technology Associations) Vietnam Gold Book 2017. 

“For me, research is just like a trip. The more you travel, the more things you can discover,” he said.

In 1977, after graduating from ELTE Budapest University in Hungary, Nguyen Hoang Nghia, 23, decided to return to Vietnam to work as a forest tree variety researcher at the Forestry Institute. He worked there until he retired.

“The selection and breeding of forest tree varieties is hard work. It’s hardly probable that you can choose one tree with good characteristics among thousands of trees. To create a new variety, you will need to have hundreds of trees with good characteristics,” he said.

In general, it takes scientists 20 years to create a new tree variety. 

In his lifetime, Nghia has created 36 varieties recognized by scientists, including four national varieties and five for research, white eucalyptus, eucalyptus brassiana, acacia auriculiformis, acacia hybrid and Acacia mangium.

However, he was most happy about the creation of AA9 acacia. The tree is not straight, but is twisted and has low yield. Its wood is precious and suited for household furniture and fine arts.

The trees grow in many areas from Quang Ninh to Ca Mau provinces. Nghia and his co-workers visited every area to select the best trees which had ideal height, trunk diameter and were without pestilent insects. 

After two years, Nghia selected 100 trees. After 15  years of selection, he created a new variety, AA9 acacia, which gives a yield 2-3 times higher than normal acacia, 34 cubic meters per hectare per annum instead of 10-15 cubic meters. 

The exploitation circle of the new variety is 7-10 years instead of 15-20 years.

Nghia said an Australian colleague of his grew AA9 and had high yield of 38 cubic meters per hectare per annum. The scientist thinks this must be the highest possible yield of the species.

AA9 has been used by many units to plant forests in Hanoi, Binh Dinh, Dong Nai, Quang Tri and Binh Duong.

AA9 is resistant to most diseases and has the highest resistance ability among acacia species. The disease-resistant and fast-growing AA9 helps people save money on plant protection chemicals and make bigger profits.

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