Statistics of progress and achievement in the Cooperative

500+ scientific articles published
200+ professionals graduated from NCSU via the Cooperative
Over 94,000,000 mass-control pollinated full-sib seedlings planted operationally
+$95,000,000 invested by members in genetic improvement of loblolly pine
17+ million acres reforested with genetically improved seedlings

About TIP

Located on the North Carolina State University campus in Raleigh, NC, the mission of the Cooperative is to economically increase forest productivity through the genetic manipulation of loblolly pine populations. The North Carolina State University - Cooperative Tree Improvement began in the mid-1950's, when a group of 11 charter members agreed to support research in forest genetics, selection, breeding and testing, and technology transfer for an initial five year period. This group of visionary industry leaders recognized the need to invest in the long-range regeneration of the forests they were harvesting in the Southeast.

Over 50 years later, the Cooperative is still going strong, providing vital research to the forestry industry. Enhanced productivity through breeding, selecting, and deploying superior loblolly pine families is a major goal of the Cooperative.

Brief overviews of our past and current contributions to the forestry industry are:

Development of innovative, efficient, and cost effective breeding strategies for forest trees
Integrating tree improvement into silvicultural systems
Development of optimal selection strategies
Understanding the genetic and environmental control of growth and wood properties
Increased seed production efficiency from seed orchards
Understanding the genetic control and variation in disease resistance and developing deployment strategies
Integrating biotechnologies with conventional breeding strategies to enhance forest productivity