5 Sep 2008

A gene bank will go some way to avoiding a food crisis in Pacific region

1:25 pm on 5 September 2008

Officials heading the Pacific sectors of agriculture and forestry are meeting in Samoa to discuss issues affecting the region.

Food security and climate change are two key matters on the table at the three day meeting organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Comunity, the SPC.

However, while Pacific people face serious challenges to their food security, a gene bank set up in the 1980's will help ensure food production in the future.

The SPC's genetic resource coordinator, Dr Mary Taylor, says all 22 SPC member countries have access to the tissue samples in the bank.

"For example they can grow some of our taro on the atoll countries to see if they're tolerant to salt intrusion they can go to drier parts of the country and to see how tolerant they are to dry tolerance. It's significant insurance policy to food production in the future"

Dr Taylor says they've just introduced the bread fruit and sandalwood tissues into the gene bank.