ADB finances coco germplasm project

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna — Twenty countries including the Philippines are now involved in several activities aimed at developing a sound environmental management of coconut genetic resources through sustainable conservation and utilization of the coconut.

Funded by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB), the project is called "Coconut Genetic Resources Network and Human Resources Strengthening in Asia and the Pacific (Phase II)."

Aside from the Philippines, involved are China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.

The rationale behind the project is that the disappearance of coconut genetic diversity would lead to the untimely loss of an important cash crop that has been the source of income for millions of poor coconut farmers worldwide.

Coconut’s ability to produce a variety of products and its resilient and hardy nature set it apart from other crops, making it worthy of an international rehabilitation effort.

The 20 countries participating in the project have collection and conserved coconut germplasm, and have submitted 1,338 passport and characterization data to the Coconut Genetic Resources Database (CGRD).

The CGRD was established in 1992 by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and the International Coconut Genetic Resources Network (COGENT) in collaboration with the Centre de Cooperation Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Developpement (CIRAD) of France.

The database aims to document and disseminate passport and characterization data on conserved germplasm, facilitate international information exchange, and promote access to population whose breeders require to achieve their breeding objectives.

Four International Coconut Genebanks (ICGs) have been established in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, India, and Cote d’Ivoire. The ICGs are also being assisted by IPGRI and COGENT.

Five countries have conducted hybrid/varietal trials and two have established molecular markers to characterize their germplasm collections. Fourteen countries have conducted farmer participatory surveys to identify farmer’s varieties and multipurpose uses of the coconut.

Human resources strengthening has been achieved through several workshops and training courses.

Among them were the technical writing and public awareness, and data analysis course for 13 countries conducted in Los Baños, Laguna; in-country farmer participatory research techniques in data analysis course for the four Pacific island member countries (Cook Island, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu); and embryo culture training for participants from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

During the third annual meetings of the ADB-funded project in Apia, Samoa on June 26-30, and in Manila on July 10-15, 2000, the project leaders came out with several recommendations to further enhance the results of the project’s activities.

They recommended the establishment of country networks for low temperature-tolerant varieties involving China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka; identification of the exact location of the varieties to be conserved, and number of plants to be considered for in situ (natural) conservation.

They also proposed that forthcoming funds to support the national programs should be tied with available permanent staff to ensure the project’s sustainability even after the external funding is terminated.