Three institutes of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun, have developed 20 high-yielding varieties of plant species. The Variety Releasing Committee (VRC) of ICFRE, granted approval for the release of these varieties of plant species, at a meeting held on Monday.

The three institutes are Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB), Coimbatore and Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur.

The Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, has worked on ten improved varieties of Melia dubia and three clones of Eucalyptus tereticornis, the timber of which is in high demand in the industry. The released cultivars of Melia, popularly known as Dreake, or Malabar Neem, not only have a high productivity per unit area, with an average of 34.57 cubic metre per hectare per annum.

The Research at Institute of Forest Genetic and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore, has resulted in the development of five inter-specific hybrids of Casuarina equisetifolia and  Casuarina junghuhniana for use as timber. Similarly, Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur, developed two varieties of medicinal plant Rauvolfia serpentina.

In its earlier efforts, ICFRE released 27 high-yielding clones in 2010, 2011 and 2014 of Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Eucalyptus Hybrid, Casuarina equisetifolia, Casuarina junghuhniana and Dalbergia sissoo and are in commercial production now. Of these, 27 varieties have been released in the past.