A blog maintained by Tevita Kete, PGR Officer Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Suva, Fiji Islands
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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).
PAPGREN coordination and support
PAPGREN partners Mr William Wigmore Mr Adelino S. Lorens Dr Lois Englberger Mr Apisai Ucuboi Dr Maurice Wong Mr Tianeti Beenna Ioane Mr Frederick Muller Mr Herman Francisco Ms Rosa Kambuou Ms Laisene Samuelu Mr Jimi Saelea Mr Tony Jansen Mr Finao Pole Mr Frazer Bule Lehi Other CROP agencies Pacific biodiversity Other Pacific organizations Pacific news Interested in GIS?
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Tuesday, March 01, 2005 Posted 7:32 PM by Luigi
Taro genetic work blasted By Jan TenBruggencate, Honolulu Advertiser Science Writer Some Native Hawaiians are expressing concern that genetic engineering of taro could pose a cultural and economic threat to the Hawaiian people. "Taro is a sacred plant to us. It's absolutely sacred," said Big Island educator Ku Kahakalau. She said taro — kalo, in the native language — is a body form of the Hawaiian god Kane. Moloka'i activist Walter Ritte Jr. said tradition has taro as an ancestor of the Hawaiian people. Until recently, most genetic work with taro has involved traditional breeding: crossing one variety with another to develop new varieties with qualities of the parent plants. Such work, for example, might try to combine the disease resistance of one variety with the flavor and large-sized corms of another. Kahakalau and Ritte said that using genetic-engineering techniques to insert foreign genes into the taro plant is wrong. "You can't change our ancestors without our permission," Ritte said. They also expressed concern that genetically engineered taro would be patented and that farmers might have to pay a license fee to grow it. "They're trying to own what shouldn't be owned," Ritte said. University of Hawai'i plant pathologist John Cho, who conducts taro research, said he generally agrees that genetic engineering is neither necessary nor appropriate for taro grown for food. But he said there are instances in which new varieties have been patented, even when grown using traditional techniques. Cho said he is participating in a trial with the Hawai'i Agricultural Research Center to insert disease-resistance genes from rice into a Chinese taro variety called bun long to develop a hardy ornamental taro. "I've told people I don't think it's appropriate for food taro. You can improve disease resistance and do the other things we need to do with taro using traditional breeding methods," Cho said. Stephanie Whalen, director of the Hawai'i Agricultural Research Center, said the research at this point is simply aimed at determining how to do the genetic modification on taro if in the future someone wants it. "We've been working with the University of Hawai'i on trying to develop a system for working with taro, but we're not working on any traditional Hawaiian varieties. And if people don't want it, it won't go anywhere," Whalen said. Kahakalau said she has no objection to traditional breeding. "We know that our Hawaiian ancestors hybridized kalo. There is no need to genetically engineer it," she said. Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074. |
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Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives.
PestNet: For on-line
information, advice and pest identification for the Pacific and beyond.
Contact: Grahame Jackson.
Pacific Mapper: For on-line
mapping of point data over satellite images of the Pacific provided by Google Maps.
DIVA-GIS: For free, easy-to-use
software for the spatial analysis of biodiversity data.
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