BACKGROUND – PACIFIC COMMUNITY
• International Organization established by treaty in 1947 owned and
governed by 26 members including 22 PICTs
• One of 9 member agencies of the Council of Regional Organizations of the
Pacific (CROP);
• Principal scientific and technical organization supporting development in
the Pacific Region;
• Three Goals: (1) sustainable economic development; (2) empowered and
resilient communities and (3) communities that live long and healthy.
• LRD is one of SPC’s 10 Divisions and/or Programs
GENETIC RESOURCES:
CENTRE FOR PACIFIC CROPS AND TREES (CePaCT)
• Global recognition for SPC as a Centre of Excellence
• True and unique ‘Science for Purpose’ Service Center
• Critical support to PICTs in Climate Readiness and in combatting NCDs
• Incubator for diversified partnerships (ACIAR, APAARI, CGIAR, FAO,
IAEA)
• Provider of integrated solutions for integrated deliverables
CENTRE FOR PACIFIC CROPS AND TREES
• Short-run: Make CePaCT an effective / cost-effective Conservation Centre.
• Medium-run : Reach out and build national capacities in conservation and
use of plant genetic resources (PAPGREN)
• Medium to Long-run: Turn CePaCT into a Hub-Spoke Centre of Excellence.
FROM CONSERVATION TO CONSERVATION AND USE
CePaCT
LOOKING @ THE FUTURE
o Quality Management System (QMS) & its Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs)
• Collection, Acquisition, Conservation, Rejuvenation and Safety Duplication of accessions
• Characterization/Evaluation, Genetic Improvement, Plant Health facilities, and
Distribution
• Outreach to farmers and validation of germplasm through a regional and national seed
systems network
• Documentation and information management - PAIS
o Administration (program development, human resources, capacity building, AWARD)
o Crop and Tree Seed Centre integration
CePaCT
THE INVESTMENT CASE
• Funding requirements for:
Core gene-bank operations
Core collective needs
Collection, Outreach and Partnerships
AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY: SOFT
• Integrated Pest Management: plant health clinics; CRB biocontrol; trap designs
• Research in the use of pathogens App (apple & android store); Plant Health Clinics
• Innovative research on integrated crop – livestock production systems for atolls;
• R&D on crop tolerance to Climate Change (drought, water logging, saline water),
• Research on crop nutritional properties (Breadfruit; Traditional vegetables),
• Research on LDN and soil fertility management ; application – acceptance of bio-
fertilizers
• Research on One Health (animal – public – environmental health) issues
AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY: HARD
• Molecular diagnosis for chemical residue in food crops (establishing maximum
residue levels for markets)
• Virus indexing (PCR, ELISA) & Virus elimination
• Cryopreservation of meristematic tissue (Coconut genetic resources)
• The use of nuclear technologies to improve / expedite climate readiness
• DNA fingerprinting (UQ)
• Genetic resources mapping
INTEGRATED PROGRAMMING ON CSA
A CASE FOR THE PACIFIC
Exchange of Climate Smart Food and Nutrition crops between centres
Multi-location Performance of ‘climate smart crops’ and PVS
Researching / piloting integrated crop-livestock-aquaculture food systems
models;
Research on Good Governance of natural resources (Voluntary Guidelines);
Modelling soil fertility regimes for Atoll food production systems;
Responding to Pests and Diseases (CRB-G / Fruit Flies)
Demand-pull – Analysing supply chains in terms of their value add properties
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
• LRD as part of and steering an umbrella alliance (SPC-FAO)
• Partnerships that strengthen LRDs operational / management capacities (ACIAR)
• Partnerships that Learning and Impact through South – South (USP, Samoa &
NARI-PNG)
• Partnerships that deepen our Research for Purpose capacity (Landcare;
Agresearch; CG; APAARI
• Partnerships with existing Communities of Practice (COGENT, Darwin Initiative)
• Partnerships with the French Overseas Territories
In-situ: Conservation of biological diversity in natural environment – Habitat
Ex-situ: Preservation of biological diversity outside its natural habitat (Tissue Culture)
Long run: developing an effective Pacific Seed System – Pacific Seeds for Life – with the availability of and access to quality and quantity of healthy and Climate Smart Crops guarantee
Core: minimum non-research activities without which the fundamental security of the collection or its use is at risk (minimum critical mass required that allows us to have a centre
Core Collective Needs: minimum investments to upgrade CePaCT to fulfil its international obligations and achieve expected standards (moving from level 1 to level 3 in quality adherence)
activities that make an immediate and critical contribution to the global system of conservation and use (capacity building, partnership projects, impact assessment and communication of impact) – Examples with ACIAR, COGENT, IAR in New Caledonia and French Polynesia
R&D on tolerance:
IPM – pathogen tested planting material through tissue culture means.
Effective responses to the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Guam Biotype, Oryctes rhinoceros, (CRB-G): studies on CRB-G biocontrol resistance, digital applications for CRB-G survey and data collection, alternative trap designs for sustainable monitoring and suppression, and capacity building
Research have been performed to test the tolerance of crop varieties to different conditions (drought, water logging, salinity, etc).
Nutritional properties: have tested carotenoid level in breadfruit varieties held at CePaCT;
Fruiting pattern: Have observed fruiting pattern of breadfruit held at the CePaCT field genebank. Timeline has been determined. Can pick at least 2 varieties and have breadfruit available all year around.
Molecular diagnosis for chemical residue – in crops are essential for human health and the environment. PH are already considering such test in current activities through the ACIAR projects that deals with crops. In addition, market access will soon need the maximum residue levels (MRL) data in all export crops and locally sold at municipal and road side vendors.
Virus Indexing: a virus indexed crop variety is one that has been tested and deemed free of the viruses it was tested for up to the point of testing.
PCR: Polymerase Chain Reaction is an efficient and cost effective way to copy or amplify small segments of DNA or RNA. Enables the monitoring of the amount of virus present, or viral load in the plant sample.
ELISA: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. For virus test. Is a test that uses antibodies and colour change to identify a substance.
Virus elimination: the process of trying to eliminate viruses from a plant material. Methods used at CePaCT include meristem extraction and thermotherapy.
Cryopreservation: the process of maintaining meristematic tissue in liquid nitrogen at -196 oC for an indefinite period.
Bioreactor system: a system where plant material are temporarily submerged in liquid medium. Reduces manual labour, improves plant tissue quality and performs better during the acclimatisation phase (less time to acclimatise before planting out in the field). Research on Breadfruit and taro using the bioreactor temporary immersion system resulted in reduced field readiness from 44 weeks to 30 weeks and 28 weeks to 20 weeks respectively.
DNA fingerprinting: to identify the unique varieties and rationalise those that are duplicates
Virus indexed (climate smart varieties) plants are marked green in colour and mass propagated for distribution upon the request by countries.
R4D Alliance: FAO, APCC, IFAD, APAARI
Operational Alliance: with ACIAR, DFAT, Crop Trust.
Specialized partnerships: CABI, APAARI, APCC
Deepen research: LANDCARE; PGRAF
Communities of Practice: (ACIAR, DFAT, Crop Trust)
New Caledonia, French Polynesia, W&F).