GTFS/RAS/198/ITA Support to the Regional Programme for Food Security in the Pacific Island Countries
GTFS/RAS/198/ITA Support to the Regional Programme for Food Security in the Pacific Island Countries FAO/ITA/CKI/01 Fruit Trees Development Project TERMINAL REPORT By WILLIAM WIGMORE Project Manager Ministry of Agriculture Rarotonga, Cook Islands Executive summary The extension phase of the project successfully expanded on the activities carried-out under the initial phase. Since the inception of the project in 2004 until the commencement of the extension phase, up to 35 species and 51 varieties of fruit trees, including a few aromatic roots -galangal and cardamom were introduced from Australia. At the same time, 10 varieties of Oranges, Mandarins, and Grapefruit were introduced from Kwan Nurseries in New Zealand. To-date, four mandarins and two grapefruit varieties have proven to thrive and yield successfully in the country. The mandarins are; Afourer Delite, Satsuma Miho, Satsuma Miyagawa, and Encore, and two grapefruits namely; Golden Special and Star Ruby. The Afourer Delite variety is seen to produce successive crops compared to normally one to two crops in most local citrus varieties. The introduction and cultivation of these varieties should see an extension to the supply of citrus fruit of 2-3 months from January to March before the main local varieties come into season. Avocado is another important crop in the country for the local and visitor population. Although there are few good local varieties, they have certain disadvantages including reduced harvest duration of 2- 3 months, soft flesh, relatively large size, and poor transport qualities. In June and December of 2008, 400 grafted seedlings of six varieties [Bacon, Ettinger, Fuerte, Hass, Reed, Zutano] were imported from Lynwood Orchards, New Zealand.
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