This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A University of Queensland study has disproved the assumption that laboratory-based propagation of avocado carries an intrinsic environmental cost. The study led by researchers from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation with industry partners provides the first integrated environmental comparison of plant tissue culture (PTC)-based clonal rootstock propagation versus conventional seedling propagation.
Cresha Gracy Nadar said that at a system level, this newer PTC propagation technique did not place a greater burden on the environment. Instead, environmental performance was mainly determined by orchard management. The paper is published in the journal Environmental Technology & Innovation.
"Fertilizer manufacture and application, as well as electricity for irrigation, accounted for most system-level impacts regardless of the propagation method. Additionally, PTC propagation had many benefits," Nadar said. Alice Hayward, who co-authored the study, said its capacity for year-round multiplication made it particularly valuable for perennial species, like avocados, that are slow or difficult to propagate by conventional means.
"It rapidly produces large numbers of selected plant genotypes from minimal starting material, reducing reliance on seasonal seeds, mother plants and traditional cloning methods," Hayward said. Associate Professor Sudhir Yadav said with questions about PTC's environmental costs compared with conventional methods, the team assessed the full system from planting material production through to 30 years of orchard production. "Results found the propagation method was not the greatest environmental burden," Yadav said.
"Instead, the largest environmental opportunities lie in the orchard stage, through fertilizer optimization, improved irrigation efficiency and progressive grid decarbonization. "Transitioning PTC propagation facilities to renewable electricity would substantially reduce their small propagation-stage impact. However, the overall effect on the total system's global warming potential would be limited because of the burden of the orchard stage.
"Plus, if avocado rootstocks produced via PTC provide advantages in yield stability over genetically variable seedling rootstocks, its environmental case would be strengthened. "However, verifying this requires long-term comparative field trials for avocado, which do not yet exist for multiple genotypes," Yadav said. Cresha Gracy Nadar et al., Life cycle assessment of plant tissue culture technology: A case study of avocado propagation methods in Australia, Environmental Technology & Innovation (2026).
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