ASCC PRESS RELEASE - October 2005

Banana Evaluation Meeting held at ASCC Land Grant Station

In early September the ASCC Land Grant Program introduced new disease-resistant hybrid bananas to a group of selected farmers. These bananas are resistant to black leaf streak disease (lausului), a major threat to banana production worldwide. Almost all fungicide purchased in the Territory is used to control this disease. These plants were multiplied in our Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory and raised in a new greenhouse specially built for the purpose. They do not require fungicide spray, and when mature will produce large bunches with big fruits.

Several test tubes of the new bananas were imported through the Secretariat of the Pacific Community¹s Regional Germplasm Centre, a large plant tissue culture facility in Suva, Fiji. Our own Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory multiplied the plants until we had over 100 of each variety. They were imported as part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture program to improve the quality of bananas and taro in American Samoa. Our goal is to find a substitute for the OWilliams¹ banana (fa¹i palagi), which must be sprayed with fungicide every two weeks to protect it from lausului.

Eight of the farmers present at the September meeting were given the first of these new bananas, experimentally named F-03, F-17, and F-23. They will grow and evaluate the plants on their farms in various parts of Tutuila and Manu¹a. At harvest, Land Grant research and agricultural extension workers will measure plant size, bunch weight, and other plant characteristics, including eating quality. The farmers and Land Grant staff will meet to consider whether any of the hybrids might be acceptable to American Samoans.

All of the plants and harvested bananas will belong to the farmers. They may share the plants, suckers, and fruits with friends and family after the evaluations are finished. If any of the new plants are judged exceptional, our Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory will produce a limited number of extra plants to help accelerate multiplication in the field.

In November of this year we will introduce a similar program for taro farmers. This program is modeled after Samoa¹s successful Taro Improvement Project. It is based on the idea that people who will grow and eat the taro should play a major role in choosing the varieties to be introduced. Many crop evaluation programs make those decisions at the Ministry or field station level with limited input from the consumer.

We have imported over 40 new taro varieties from breeding programs in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. These varieties have been bred for resistance to taro leaf blight disease (lega) and generously offered to us by the various breeding programs and the Regional Germplasm Centre. Most of these varieties have been evaluated for blight resistance and eating quality in the country of origin, but need to be tested under local conditions and judged by American Samoans. We will have five selections ready for testing in about 4-6 weeks, two from Indonesia, two from Malaysia, and one from the breeding program in Samoa.

Increasing the number of taro varieties available in American Samoa will give people more choices. Farmers can decide which varieties perform best on their land, how to grow them, and when to harvest. One variety may be selected for its leaf quality (luau) and another for the corm size, texture, color, or taste they prefer. The hidden payoff to this program, however, may not be visible for many years. It is the potential differences in the kinds of disease resistance these varieties offer. When the taro leaf blight disease hit the Samoas in 1993, most of the traditional Samoan taro varieties were lost. Even though they did not look and taste the same, almost all of the Samoan varieties were susceptible to the disease. By introducing taro varieties with different parents, from different countries, the chance that their types of disease resistance are different is increased. When the next big taro epidemic comes to the islands, there will be a greater chance some of the varieties will be resistant and survive.

For more information on these programs, contact the Research or Agricultural Extension Division, ASCC Community & Natural Resources (Land Grant) at 699-1575.

Maori 'better prepared' to deal with bird flu

Maori communities are likely to fare better in a bird flu pandemic than others, despite also probably being at higher risk, says Northland Medical Officer of Health Jonathan Jarman.

He has been running a roadshow to help health workers prepare for what he says is a likely influenza pandemic. The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic - on which much of current planning is based - hit Maori harder than Pakeha, he says. By December 1918 it had killed 8600, including at least 2160 Maori. Health officials warn a pandemic could hit health workers hard, forcing members of the public to look after themselves. But Dr Jarman believes this time Maori communities - with marae and whanau networks - may be better equipped to support one another than Pakeha. "They're probably better placed to look after their neighbours. But I think their infection rates are likely to be higher." He said flu was a "droplet-spread infection" that could live a few hours outside the body. "Stand a metre from sick person if you can. Hand washing is very important." Dr Jarman intends to meet iwi health providers and give information to people working in essential services. He said the roadshow, which went to the Bay of Islands, Dargaville, Kaitaia and Whangarei, was well attended. Ninety health professionals attended the Whangarei session.