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Pacific Community Hosts French Polynesian Minister

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Pacific Community hosts Minister

4 Jul 2017 | Suva

The Pacific Community (SPC) was honoured to host French Polynesia’s Minister for Primary Resources and Development, Mr Tearii O Te Moana Alpha, at its Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT) facility in Narere earlier this week.

CePaCT is the Pacific’s only internationally recognised gene bank and houses over 2,000 tissue culture varieties, including the largest collection of taro diversity in the world.

Over the past 12 years, the Centre has distributed over 70,000 tissue culture plantlets to 51 countries including 22 of SPC’s own countries and territories. SPC through CePaCT, responded to support the Agriculture sector in Fiji and Vanuatu following Tropical Cyclone Winston and Tropical Cyclone Pam in 2016 and 2015 respectively.

 

 

 

These distributions of tissue cultures following natural disasters, ensure that farmers have access to screened varieties of crops, to rebuild farms often destroyed by these adverse climatic occurrences. Similarly, CePaCT will be working on developing a seeds distribution network by enhancing the capacity of countries and regional partners to provide easier access to seeds as required.

During the tour of the facility, the French Polynesian Minister was given the ability to engage and view firsthand, CePaCt’s capacity to conserve genetic plant material, and to appreciate the centre’s potential to revive Pacific basic staples and crops which are constantly under threat by pests, diseases and changing climate.

French Polynesia is currently an active member of the Pacific Plant Genetic Resources Network (PAPGREN) since its establishment in 2001. SPC has ongoing collaboration with French Polynesia through PAPGREN, with its most recent collaboration focused on the conservation of bananas by strengthening the network of collections in order to improve access to wider diversity and safeguard threatened banana cultivars. This collaboration has been facilitated in partnership with Bioversity International and The Crop Trust.

Contributing to its wide collection of crop varieties, CePaCT houses 16 banana varieties and 5 taro accessions from French Polynesia in its regional collection, with previous distribution of bananas being facilitated by SPC CePaCT to the Pacific Banana Field Genebank housed in French Polynesia.

“SPC was delighted to host Minister Tearii Alpha to showcase our genetic resources facility as the Pacific mechanism to contribute to food and nutrition security in the face of impending Climate Change”, said SPC’s Land Resources Division Director, Jan Helsen.

“The visit provided both SPC and the Minister the opportunity to discuss stronger partnerships in the region through the exchange of planting materials and the further development of planting materials. SPC’s genetic resources facilities could be used for the multiplication of some of the planting materials in French Polynesia”, said Mr Helsen.

‘“I hope to see a stronger partnership between French Polynesia and SPC that could be further exploited,” he added.

The Honourable Minister echoed Mr Helsen’s sentiments in supporting the need for stronger relationships between French Polynesia as an SPC member country and the Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees.

“We have heard of CePaCT’s work in French Polynesia around the conservation of vital crop varieties such as yam, breadfruit, taro and bananas. This laboratory is very important for us for the conservation of basic food varieties”, said Minister Alpha.

“We have a SPC facility in French Polynesia and we want to build a convention to share this knowledge and experience.”

“The conservation of local crops will be better for the security of plant varieties, especially with all the crop diseases present in the Pacific. We need to conserve our specific varieties for the future”, the Minister added.

 

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 26 July 2017 09:54  

Newsflash

Science Technology and Resources (STAR) Network 2012 Annual Meeting
5 November 2012
Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Noumea

Chair of STAR, Professor John Collen,
Director General of the SPC, Dr Jimmie Rodgers
Director of IRD, Dr Gilles Fediere
Members of the STAR scientific and technical network
Friends

I have great pleasure in being here today to be a part of the 29th Annual Science Technology and Resources Network Meeting, and to become freshly-acquainted with such a prestigious body that has a deep history of engagement and service to the Region.  

I’m honoured to address you today – and in conjunction with the Second Meeting of the SPC Applied Geoscience and Technology Division, tomorrow.      

The Cook Islands itself has had the opportunity to host two STAR annual meetings – first in 1986 and again in 1995.  To the STAR veterans out there – and I’m told there’s four of you – who had the earlier experience of meeting in Rarotonga, I say ‘Kia Orana’ to you.  

And to those, who have not yet had the pleasure, I’ll see what I can do to help arrange one of your forthcoming gatherings in the Cook Islands.

I think by now you may have heard that we ‘showered’ the Pacific Leaders with an unforgettable experience during the Pacific Islands Forum – and Dr. Rodgers I’m sure – will attest to what was a major highlight of the year for us as hosts.  

It would be pleasing for me to see you all in Rarotonga next time, should we have the opportunity to host your annual meeting.

Manihiki Farmer

In just two short years, I’ve had a challenging time as Leader, and the thought often hits me that: I’m a long way from my former life as a farmer back in Manihiki – our Northern Group atoll renowned for its black pearls.