Pacific makes Global Impact and promoting its unique Crop Diversity for Food and Nutritional Security

The presentation from the Pacific region will focus on “promoting conservation and utilization of our rich and unique crop diversity for regional and global food and nutritional security”.

The Pacific is blessed with a rich and unique crop diversity sustaining food security over many generations. Major staple food crops in the Pacific include: • Coconut (Cocos nucifera) • (Colocasia esculenta) • Cassava (Manihot esculenta) • Yam (Dioscorea spp) • Breadfruit (Artocarpus spp) • Banana & Plantain (Musa spp) • (Ipomoea batatas) Some of the crops that are grown are unique to the Pacific such as the • Fe’i • Iholena • Maoli and • Popoulu Groups

Also important to all Pacific islands is the unique diversity of breadfruit comprising of varieties that can produce all year round fruiting. Other aroids, such as the swamp taro ( merkusii), is an important staple crop of the small countries such as and .

The outbreak of the taro leaf blight disease (TLB), caused by oomycete, Phytophthora colocasiae, in in 1993 was a wake-up call to the Pacific region in realizing the need for greater diversity. The resulting introduction of exotic genetic materials channelled through “participatory type breeding approaches” became the ultimate remedy and a possible long term solution.

Although the diversity is relatively high in the Pacific region, it still needs genetic diversity from other regions to broaden and build resilience especially with climate change and natural disasters. The Pacific through the Secretariat of the Pacific Communitys (SPC) Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT), is accessing resilient and improved crop diversity from CGIAR Genebanks and utilizing these crops for food and nutritional security. Similarly, the Pacific is also reaching out and supporting global food security by sharing its crop diversity to other countries in need.

The sharing of genetic resources for food and agriculture within and outside of the Pacific is facilitated and supported by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Global Crop Diversity Trust, Bioversity International and other collaborative programs.

For more information, please contact: Mr William Wigmore Side Event: SWP Member – CGRFA and Director for Research Ministry of Agriculture, Rarotonga Date: Friday, 27 Sept 2013 Time: Lunch time, from 13h - 14h30 Phone: (682) 28711, 25403 Fax: (682) 21881 Venue: Room 1- Omani Theatre Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Ms Valerie Saena Tuia Coordinator Genetic Resources/Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT) Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Suva, . Ph: (679) 3370733 etx 274 Fax: (679) 3370021. Website:http//www.spc.int Email: [email protected] or [email protected]