PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 4:42 PM by Luigi

Farmer Training Workshop on Banana Improvement, Marshall

Islands

From Dr Dilip Nandwani of the College of the Marshall Islands, Majuro.

The Second Banana Farmers Training Workshop was opened on the 20 September at the College of the Marshall Islands’ Science Station, Arrak. The workshop was organized by CMI, the Ministry of Resources and Development and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN. The week-long workshop provided training in banana production using the narrow-pit system, composting and organic bulking to farmers, research assistants and CMI’s agriculture class students. The resource persons included FAO consultant Dr Winston Charles, Land Grant Researcher Dr Dilip Nandwani and staff of the Technical Mission of ROC to RMI.

Banana is an important staple food in the Marshall Islands. It has been somewhat neglected in the past, but because of its role in the diet it has now been given high priority in the Agricultural Development Plan of the country. As a consequence, the Government has to implement a plan of action to increase production and utilization of banana aimed at self-sufficiency, income generation and to raise the standard of living of small farmers.

A project has therefore been formulated and implemented with assistance from FAO to strengthen national capability to overcome the many constraints that limit the successful production of banana in the RMI. Among the constraints are poor planting materials, inadequate agricultural practices, lack of efficient control of diseases, poor post-harvest handling, marketing and storability.

RMI recognizes the urgent need to grow more food to keep pace with the ever expanding demand caused by rapid population growth rate. In the project, efforts have been concentrated on the application of improved technology generated from banana research to the agricultural sector in RMI to increase production.

The following project activities are in progress:

tissue culture aimed at the production of disease free clones resistant to Black Sigatoka disease
distribution of high yielding disease free suckers to farmers
training farmers in sustainable management of atoll banana production by the adoption of the narrow pit-system of planting bananas

Tissue culture plants of both local and introduced cultivars of banana have been produced at the Land Grant research laboratory in collaboration with regional and international research centers. New introductions of more than twenty- five cultivars are under field trial and have produced quality bunches in many cases. Tissue culture plantlets have been distributed to the farmer community in Majuro and outer islands.

More than thirty farmers, students and Research Assistants attended the training. The workshop was closed by CMI President Dr Wayne Schmidt, who awarded the certificates to participants. Our sincere thanks to the SPC Regional Germplasm Centre (RGC), INIBAP and DPI, Australia for providing valuable banana germplasm to Marshall Islands, the FAO for funding support and the Technical Mission of ROC to RMI for active participation and support.

For more information contact: Dr Dilip Nandwani (dilipnandwani@yahoo.com) or Ministry of Resources and Development (rndsec@ntamar.net).



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This weblog documents the activities of Pacific Agricultural Genetic Resources Network (PAPGREN), along with other information on plant genetic resources (PGR) in the Pacific. The myriad varieties found within cultivated plants are fundamental to the present and future productivity of agriculture. PAPGREN, which is coordinated by the Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), helps Pacific countries and territories to conserve their crop genetic diversity sustainably, with technical assistance from the Bioversity International (BI) and support from NZAID and ACIAR. SPC also hosts the Centre of Pacific Crops and Trees (CEPaCT). The CEPaCT maintains regional in vitro collections of crops important to the Pacific and carries out research on tissue culture technology. The CEPaCT Adviser is Dr Mary Taylor (MaryT@spc.int), the CEPaCT Curator is Ms Valerie Tuia (ValerieT@spc.int). 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DIVA-GIS	Wednesday, October 20, 2004 Posted 4:42 PM by Luigi Farmer Training Workshop on Banana Improvement, Marshall Islands From Dr Dilip Nandwani of the College of the Marshall Islands, Majuro. The Second Banana Farmers Training Workshop was opened on the 20 September at the College of the Marshall Islands’ Science Station, Arrak. The workshop was organized by CMI, the Ministry of Resources and Development and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN. The week-long workshop provided training in banana production using the narrow-pit system, composting and organic bulking to farmers, research assistants and CMI’s agriculture class students. The resource persons included FAO consultant Dr Winston Charles, Land Grant Researcher Dr Dilip Nandwani and staff of the Technical Mission of ROC to RMI. Banana is an important staple food in the Marshall Islands. It has been somewhat neglected in the past, but because of its role in the diet it has now been given high priority in the Agricultural Development Plan of the country. As a consequence, the Government has to implement a plan of action to increase production and utilization of banana aimed at self-sufficiency, income generation and to raise the standard of living of small farmers. A project has therefore been formulated and implemented with assistance from FAO to strengthen national capability to overcome the many constraints that limit the successful production of banana in the RMI. Among the constraints are poor planting materials, inadequate agricultural practices, lack of efficient control of diseases, poor post-harvest handling, marketing and storability. RMI recognizes the urgent need to grow more food to keep pace with the ever expanding demand caused by rapid population growth rate. In the project, efforts have been concentrated on the application of improved technology generated from banana research to the agricultural sector in RMI to increase production. The following project activities are in progress: tissue culture aimed at the production of disease free clones resistant to Black Sigatoka disease distribution of high yielding disease free suckers to farmers training farmers in sustainable management of atoll banana production by the adoption of the narrow pit-system of planting bananas Tissue culture plants of both local and introduced cultivars of banana have been produced at the Land Grant research laboratory in collaboration with regional and international research centers. New introductions of more than twenty- five cultivars are under field trial and have produced quality bunches in many cases. Tissue culture plantlets have been distributed to the farmer community in Majuro and outer islands. More than thirty farmers, students and Research Assistants attended the training. The workshop was closed by CMI President Dr Wayne Schmidt, who awarded the certificates to participants. Our sincere thanks to the SPC Regional Germplasm Centre (RGC), INIBAP and DPI, Australia for providing valuable banana germplasm to Marshall Islands, the FAO for funding support and the Technical Mission of ROC to RMI for active participation and support. For more information contact: Dr Dilip Nandwani (dilipnandwani@yahoo.com) or Ministry of Resources and Development (rndsec@ntamar.net). * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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