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, January 20, 2009 Posted 2:32 PM by Tevita
Food plants database online From : Didinet An extensive database of edible plants, most of which are from PNG, is now online, courtesy of the Food Plants International (FPI), a not-for-profit organisation that aims to provide information about edible plants with the objective of 'Helping the Hungry Feed Themselves'. The url is: www.foodplantsinternational.com. According to this site, it is the world's largest database of edible food plants, containing useful information on over 18,000 food plants. There are a huge number of undervalued and overlooked food plants in the world. Although not complete, the FPI database provides accessible information about these plants to support production of locally relevant and nutritious food, and enable people to appropriately value their local foods. Information posted on the site says that: “The searchable database has information on scientific name, genus, common names, synonyms, plant description, production and use notes, nutritional value, pictures and references.” “Our goal is to provide information that enables people to choose the right plant for their environment, to give them stable food production and a greater choice of plants to enrich their diets and improve their nutritional wellbeing.” FPI was formally established in 1999, with origins going back to 1980. Bruce French, founder of FPI, was living in PNG at the time, and noticed that many villagers suffered disease and malnutrition, often while surrounded by nutritious food plants. It wasn't that they didn't know anything about their local plants, but there were clearly a lot more edible plants than was readily recognised. Also, there was very little nutritional information available about the plants. Bruce also observed that most of the information taught in agricultural colleges related to temperate plants commonly produced in Western agriculture. From these humble beginnings, Bruce set out to document the food plants of PNG, an effort that soon spread to include the entire world of food plants. The website says increasing the diversity of food plants available is the simplest solution to a balanced diet. What one plant lacks; another will provide. Maintaining a diversity of food plants enhances food security. If some plants are affected by adverse weather and environmental conditions, others will still be there to provide food. The people who make up FPI are based in Tasmania, Australia. Are all volunteers who wish to make a difference to the three billion people of the world whose most important concern each day is having enough nutritious food to eat. They can be contact if anyone has any information to contribute. |
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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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