News
Collaboration boosts seed potato scheme
30th January 2007
by Seniorl Anzu
The Fresh Produce Development Agency’s (FPDA) seed potato programme in the highlands has taken a step further to assist its seed growers and farmers better with cleaned and healthy planting materials. This became possible with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) in which NARI’s Highlands Programme at Aiyura will provide around 6, 000 disease-free and true-to-type potato plantlets of sequoia variety every month to FPDA using the tissue culture technology.
The culturing of the plantlets will be done at a state-of-the-art tissue culture laboratory at Aiyura, which is jointly operated by NARI and the Coffee Industry Corporation. FPDA will multiply these plantlets at screen houses and supply disease-free early generation seed potato to seed growers through its existing seed potato growers network. These early generation seeds can perform in the field without being infected by diseases for some generations.
The MOU was signed by FPDA General Manager Mr John Bennett and NARI Director General Dr Raghunath Ghodake on January 30, 2007, at the NARI Head Office in Lae, witnessed by senior officers of both organisations.
FPDA General Manager Mr John Bennett (right) and NARI Director General Dr Raghunath Ghodake sealing the MOU with a handshake as senior officers of both organisations look on
Both FPDA and NARI have agreed to facilitate this activity in a bid to have a viable and sustainable potato seed production scheme for the PNG potato industry, which is currently under the threat of the late blight presence in the country.
It is anticipated that NARI will provide potato plantlets that meet the accepted quality standards. These standards include free of contamination, non-callus formation, not overgrown, no multiple shoots, that are robust and growing vigorously. To make sure quality standard are met, the selection, counting and packaging of plantlets will be jointly carried out by the FPDA tissue culture lab technician based at Aiyura and the Lab Manager before delivery.
The tissue culture technology has become an effective technique for crop improvement initiatives. Between 2004 and 2006, NARI supplied over 18, 000 virus indexed potato plantlets to FPDA for multiplication and distribution to seed growers and farmers.
Meanwhile, during the occasion, the two organisations also discussed other areas that they can work together. These included collaborations on focused research and development initiatives, sharing of resources and expertise, corporation in publications, and information and outreach activities.