The tea tree orchards at Southern Cross University (SCU) in Lismore are in flower and it’s a beautiful sight. 

The trees have already been growing for 25 years, but now a new $1.6 million four-year project will see the advancement of this tea tree breeding population to increase tea tree oil yield and quality.

Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) is native to Australia and has been used by the local Bundjalung people for thousands of years. 

These days, it’s a growing industry and is exported across the world.

The oil is anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and it doesn’t develop resistance to bacteria, fungi and viruses. 

According to SCU Tea Tree Breeding Program 2019-2023 project leader Dr Merv Shepherd, 50% of tea tree oil uses are in the cosmetics industry.

“Melaleuca alternafolia occurs naturally on the Great Diving Range from Ballina to Port Macquarie and we collect different plants across the range,” Dr King said.

“Each species of tea tree has genetic differences and we cross pollinate from one parent to another to get the attributes we are looking for – then we can provide seed to industry, the CSIRO and plantations.

 “When we cross breed the plants and control the offspring, we can change their composition - for example, some are better at resisting drought or pests.

“The recent dry weather is a disaster across the country, and fires are not good for tea tree.”

Dr King said the genetic marker for chemotype 3 – terpinolene, was one of the sought-after characteristics of tea tree they were looking for in breeding stock.

It produces the characteristic eucalypt-like smell of tea tree and has the most powerful anti-microbial action in tea tree oil.

The new tea tree breeding program brings together the Australian Tea Tree Industry Association (ATTIA), AgriFuturesTM Tea Tree Oil Program and Southern Cross University, and builds on the legacy of desirable traits identified and selected through the previous generations of the program.

AgriFutures Australia general manager John Smith said continual improvement of the quality and quantity of oil produced in tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) plantations will ensure Australia maintains its market leader status in the face of increasing competition from China, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

“South Africa produces 100 tonnes of tea tree oil each year,” Mr Smith said.

“They are using seed stock from Australian tea trees.”

“We are in the early days of commercialisation of tea tree oil and we want to keep us competitive with overseas."

Mr Smith said production of tea tree oil started in Australia in the 1970s with harvesting from wild tea trees.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, the tea tree plantation-based industry grew.

Now, there’s 1000 tonnes of tea tree oil production per year.

“Tea tree costs a lot to get established but once it is, it just keeps growing,” Mr Smith said.

“We have trees that have been harvested for 42 years and they are sill growing. 

“You can cut it off at ground level and it comes back."

Mr King said that he hopes to see the in tea tree yield double over the years as the project grows.

“Compared to other producers of tea tree oil in Australia, we are small, but we are providing greater productivity and we elevate it – it’s vital to industry," he said.

“This new four year program is driven by industry research and development funding and now were trying to educate people overseas to use tea tree."

Dr Shepherd said breeding an industrial crop like tea tree requires not only an understanding of the biology and genetics of the plant, but also of the environment in which it is grown, production economics, and the market requirements of the end product.

Until July 2017, Tea Tree Breeding Program was conducted by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the CSIRO at the NSW DPI’s Agricultural Institute at Wollongbar. 

Beginning in 1993, the program has contributed to major increases in the uniformity and quantity of oil produced from plantations. 

The new breeding program also has synergies with ongoing research at Southern Cross Plant Science aimed at optimising propagation methods and the development of new product lines for tea tree, through links with research underway in a Cooperative Research Centre – Project, ‘Enhanced market agility for the Australian Tea Tree Industry’.

AgriFutures Australia Manager, Research Gae Plunkett said she was happy to be part of a Tea Tree Breeding Program that plays a central role “in providing a reliable source of high quality seed stock cultivars to improve the supply of Australian tea tree oil”.

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