Opened Japanese cedarand Japanese cypressspecific mother tree "Kurayoshi closed type seed plantation" in Tottori Prefecture

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (head office : Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo,President and Representative Director: Toru Nozawa, hereinafter referred to as“the Company” ) is a cedar in Tottori Prefecture for the expansion of the seedling production business such as elite trees^*1, which have high CO₂ absorption capacity, excellent growth, and low pollen content. Japanese cedar・ TheJapanese cypressspecified mother tree "Kurayoshi closed type seed plantation" was completed on October 28 and will start operation on the same day.

 

The Company January of this year, we have announced that in four of theJapanese cedarseedling distribution areas (seven areas in Japan) based on theforestry industry Seed and Seedling Law, three wards (Shizuoka Prefecture), four wards (Tottori Prefecture, northern Hiroshima Prefecture), five wards (southern Hiroshima Prefecture), and six wards (Oita Prefecture),Japanese cedarandJapanese cypresselite trees We applied for"Specific Breeding Business Plan" for the propagation of elite trees, etc., and were certified as"specified breeding company" in each prefecture.

Since then, we have been working on the creation ofseed plantationandscion plantationto produce seeds and scions necessary for seedling production such aselite trees, but this time, with the great cooperation of Tottori Prefecture and the Tottori Prefecture Forest Seedling Cooperative,the Company have opened our first specific mother treeseed plantation in Honshu We have come to the establishment of In this seed plantation, in order to prevent the invasion of foreign pollen and to ensure that specific mother trees interbreed with each other, we Recruitmenta closed type using a greenhouse and carry out artificial breeding. Artificial breeding will begin in February 2023, and the first harvest of seeds is expected in October of the same year. Using the seeds obtained, we will start producing seedlings in 2024, with the goal of shipping seedlings in the fall of the same year. From the two closedseed plantationcreated this time, wePlanto eventually produce seeds equivalent to 100,000 seedlings per year, and we will consider further expansion of the facility in the future.

Regarding the seedling production business such as elite trees,the Company will give top priority to building a collaborative system with local forest seed and seedling cooperative members and new producers. Starting with the completion of thisseed plantation, Shizuoka and Hiroshima prefectures, which have been certified asspecified breeding companylike Tottori Prefecture, plan to open seedseed plantationby November 2022, and Oita Prefecture by March 2023.scion plantation In addition,the Companyare a large-scale forest owner with approximately 400Company-owned Forestsin Japan with a total area of approximately 90,000 hectares, and in line with the Forestry Agency's direction of aiming for 30% offorestry industryseedlingselite trees2030 and more than 90% by 2050." Elite trees of Company-owned Forests", thereby contributing to the achievement of national goals and improving the value of our Company-owned Forests.

The Company"a comprehensive biomass company shaping the future with trees”, we will continue to maximize the various values of forests based on the Company Green Strategy, promote the spread of biomass products, and contribute to the construction ofcirculation-oriented society.

[Facility Overview]

■Name:Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. Kurayoshi closed typeseed plantation

■Location: 883-85 Otani Chaya, Kurayoshi City, Tottori Prefecture (leased prefectural land)

■Specifications: 2 greenhouses (7.2m in frontage× 23m in depth× 5m × in height)

■Scale: Produces 100,000 seedlings every year (plans to gradually increase production by adding greenhouses in the future)

■Features: During the artificial breeding period, the greenhouse is closed to promote flowering and control foreign pollen, so that specific mother trees can be reliably crossed with each other. In addition, early seed collection and stable production are expected to be used to manage the mother tree using the root zone control cultivation method^*2.

*1 elite trees, etc.

Refers to a seedling derived from a specific mother tree. Specified mother trees are designated by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as particularly outstanding in terms of growth-related characteristics in order to improve the ability of forests to absorb and fix CO₂ in the Special Measures Act for Thinning, etc. The criteria for designation include growth that is more than 1.5 times that of conventional lines, pollen content is less than half that of commonJapanese cedarandJapanese cypress, and there is no bend in the straightness of the trunk.

*2 Rhizosphere control cultivation method

A cultivation method that has been put into practical use in the fruit tree field for the purpose of early and high yields. Japanese cedarandJapanese cypressBoth are planted in pots, etc., and by stressing them while controlling the root zone, early seed collection and stable production are possible.