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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Sunday, August 19, 2007 Posted 1:14 PM by Tevita
Food composition activities in the Oceania region From : Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 20(8): 709-712. Athar, N., J. Cunningham and W. Aalbersberg (2007). Keywords: Pacific; nutrition; OCEANIAFOODS; Food composition; Nutrient data. Abstract: OCEANIAFOODS was established in 1987. Countries under its umbrella are Australia, New Zealand and the Secretariat of Pacific Communities (SPC, formerly the South Pacific Commission), which represents 22 Pacific Island governments. The convenorship rotates among these three regions. This report highlights major activities undertaken by OCEANIAFOODS from 2002 to 2005. The SPC, based in New Caledonia, includes a Lifestyle Health section (LHS) and a sub-office in Fiji. In Fiji, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) commissioned a project to strengthen food analytical capability in the Pacific region. The project, which ran from April 2002 to August 2004, succeeded in meeting all its goals with some adjustments. In Australia, food composition work is undertaken by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and has focused on three key areas: providing a free web-based nutrition panel calculator for nutrition labelling, preparing for the release of updated Australian nutrient data, and initiating several small analytical projects including the analysis of iodine levels in common foods and folates and folic acid in foods such as breakfast cereals. Activities outside FSANZ include further research on folate analysis at the University of New South Wales. In New Zealand, the focus has been on developing the food composition database. In 2003, Dr. Heather Greenfield reviewed the New Zealand Food Composition Database (NZFCDB), and in July 2004 the Ministry of Health renewed Crop and Food Research's contract until June 2007 to maintain the database. Publications over the last 3 years include the sixth edition of the concise food composition tables and release of an updated FOODFiles2004 electronic data files. In April 2005, the Seventh OCEANIAFOODS Conference, Innovations in Nutrient Information, was held in Wellington, New Zealand. Fifty-nine delegates attended the conference at which keynote addresses were given by Joanne Holden (USA), Bill Aalbersberg (Fiji), and Heather Greenfield (Australia). The conference resulted in 13 recommendations being formulated. The convenor of the next OCEANIAFOODS conference is Professor Bill Aalbersberg, Fiji. |
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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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