Source: COLLEGE OF MICRONESIA submitted to NRP
ACQUISITION AND MICROPROPAGATION OF BANANA (MUSA SP.) CULTIVAR MACAO TO INCREASE PROFITABILITY FOR BANANA GROWERS IN KOSRAE, FSM
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0199078
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2003
Project End Date
Oct 30, 2006
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
COLLEGE OF MICRONESIA
PO BOX 1179
KOLONIA POHNPEI,FM 96941
Performing Department
COLLEGE ADMINISTRATION
Non Technical Summary
Kosrae could earn a lot by exporting macao banana to Guam. Lack of quality seedlings is currently restricting its cultivation. Cultivar macao is facing extinction in Guam. Acquicition of disease indexed cultures of cv. macao, tissue culturing and large scale planting in Kosrae and its export will boost Kosrae's economy and quality of life for Kosraeans. Project will save the germplasm from extinction in Micronesia.
Animal Health Component
80%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
10%
Applied
80%
Developmental
10%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2041010101020%
2051010102050%
2061010105030%
Knowledge Area
206 - Basic Plant Biology; 204 - Plant Product Quality and Utility (Preharvest); 205 - Plant Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
1010 - Banana;

Field Of Science
1010 - Nutrition and metabolism; 1020 - Physiology; 1050 - Developmental biology;
Goals / Objectives
1.Collect, virus index, make aseptic cultures of banana cv. macao in Guam, USA and transport to Kosrae, FSM. 2.Fine tune micropropagation medium for cv. macao and micropropagate them at MPPRC. 3.Conduct a multiple site field trials with the micropropagated plants to study the performance on different soil types in the subsistence farming system in Kosrae.
Project Methods
Collect suckers of the banana cultivar Macao will be gathered from farms in Guam, USA. Index for viruses such as Banana Bunchytop Virus, Banana Bract Mosaic Virus, Cucumber Mosaic Virus and Banana Streak Virus using ELISA test.Make aseptic cultures in Guam and transport to MPPRC, Kosrae. Fine-tune media for multiplication and rooting. Micropropagated large numbers (5-10K) plants, harden them and conduct a multiple site field performance evaluation in Kosrae.

Progress 10/01/03 to 10/30/06

Outputs
Early termination report, Macao banana project. Macao banana project progressed well because the funding and personnel was available on time. Macao banana suckers were collected from Guam, USA and disease indexed for Banana Bunchy Top Virus BBTV, Banana Streak Virus BSV, Banana Bract Mosaic Virus BBr.MV and Cauliflower Mosaic Virus CMV as required by the FSM quarantine. Virus indexing was carried out under the supervision of Dr. George Wall, Professor of Plant Pathology, University of Guam, USA. Virus indexed shoot apices were tissue cultured in Prof. George s lab and brought to MPPRC, Kosrae. Banana culture medium was fine tuned to suit rapid micropropagation of Macao bananas. Micropropagated three thousand ninehundred and seventy two bananas and distributed over one thousand and eight hundred of them to the farmers participating in the field performance evaluation experiment. Sixty two farmers from four municipalities of Kosrae are participating in the field evaluation work. Oldest plants are 6 months old and they are showing good vigor and growth. A visual assessment estimates that these bananas may flower in two more months time. If it flowers in the anticipated eight moth prebearing period a gain of nearly three months will be achieved over the conventional suckers as it averages eleven months to bear. The project is called off early because the project director is leaving College of Micronesia to carryout advanced research in New Zealand.

Impacts
Export of manila banana from Kosrae, FSM to Guam is not profitable at the moment because of the exorbitant freight charged by the only airline operating in the region. Macao banana with 60% more market value US Dollar 2.70-2.75 per lb in Guam could be profitably marketed out of Kosrae even with the high freight cost. Therefore, availability of sufficient numbers of these bananas for planting in Kosrae will help to develop a banana industry and improve lively hood of the farming families in Kosrae.

Publications

  • P C Josekutty, S S Cornelius, T N Kilafwasru, E B Langu, M W Luckymis, N S Nena. 2004. Integrated Conservation of Banana Germplasm in the Federated States of Micronesia. 1st World Congress on Banana, Penang, Malaysia, July 2004.
  • P C Josekutty and Nena S. Nena. 2004. Research and development on banana in the FSM. 1st World Congress on Banana, Penang, Malaysia, July 2004.
  • VK Murukesan and Josekutty PC 2004. An overview of banana research and plant parasitic nematode studies in the FSM. Proceedings of the regional training workshop Enhancing Capacity for Nematode Management in Musa. In Press.