Swedish plant-tech group OptiCept Technologies has entered a long-term partnership with Chile’s largest pulp and paper company, CMPC, on a project which will boost nutrients in forest cuttings with a special vacuum impregnation technology.
The Optiboost technology is a combination of vacuum impregnation and nanotechnology.
Cuttings will be impregnated with a functionalised nutrient solution based on the third generation of patented nanotechnology.
The process is executed in a small vacuum chamber that can manage up to 15,000 cuttings an hour.
It will improve the cuttings’ rooting and growth, decreasing eucalyptus losses and tropical clone cuttings propagation and running over six years.
For 2024, the focus is on the treatment of high-yielding cuttings and on developing the concept together with CMPC towards their annual production of 20 million cuttings.
CMPC, with 17,000 employees, is a listed company with a turnover of $AU 11 billion in 2021.
The business includes forestry, pulp, paper and paper products. The company plants around 20 million cuttings annually.
“We have created a good relationship with CMPC,” OptiCept CEO Thomas Lundqvist said.
“Of course, this will also affect other forestry companies considering the OptiBoost technology,” he said.
Two other forest companies are evaluating the method, one in South America and one in China.
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“We not only help the industry to increase yield and get more plants out of the nursery, we also add a quality step. We ensure 100% of cuttings are filled with nutrition, giving optimal conditions for new plants.”
“Forestry companies often face significant losses with unrooted cuttings, particularly the best clones. With the OptiBoost method, we add a quality step to ensure optimal conditions for new plants.”
OptiCept Technologies develops products for the food and plant industries … “high-tech solutions that contribute to a more sustainable world and enable climate-smart economic growth,” Lundqvist said.
