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COLLEGE OF MICRONESIA

LAND GRANT PROGRAM
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  • COLLEGE OF MICRONESIA LAND GRANT PROGRAM

Kosrae

USDA-NIFA Approved First Multi-State/Site Research Project on Black Pepper for Micronesia

KOSRAE, FSM. Dr. Virendra M. Verma, Researcher and Extension Specialist, Kosrae Agricultural Experiment Station.

Tissue-cultured black pepper plants in the lab.
Tissue-cultured black pepper plants in the lab.

The United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) approved multi-state/site research project on black pepper for Micronesia entitled Micropropagation for elite seedling production: Comparison of local practices and commercial cultivation methods. This is the first multi-state/site research project initiated after recent recommendation from the College of Micronesia’s Board of Regents. The project director of this project Dr. Virendra M. Verma shared that this project aims towards developing sustainable black pepper production in Micronesia by providing elite and disease-free seedlings, appropriate recommendations for commercial production, and developing skills and improving knowledge of local farmers about black pepper cultivation.

The project is of great significance as non-availability of disease-free and elite seedlings, shortage of trained agricultural professionals, and limited skills of farmers for commercial production have caused serious decline in black pepper production in Micronesia. Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) belongs to the family Piperaceae. It is a universal table condiment used to flavor all types of cuisines worldwide and is known to stimulate metabolism, aid absorption of nutrients, and boost the efficacy of drugs. This project is specifically designed to develop micropropagation and nursery management systems to produce elite, disease-free seedlings in bulk quantities, and provide appropriate recommendations and adequate opportunities to educate and train local farmers in sustainable commercial black pepper production.

Raw pepper corns on the plant.
Raw pepper corns on the plant.

The project activities include: Collection of black pepper germplasm and establishment of in vitro cultures of collected germplasm; development of efficient micropropagation protocols for the multiplication of collected germplasm, development of acclimatization and nursery management systems to produce elite seedlings for commercial cultivation; designing comparative study of local practices and commercial cultivation methods; implement and conduct research trials at multiple sites and collect data for analysis; development and publication of commercial black pepper cultivation guide; and providing recommendations for sustainable black pepper production.

The extension and outreach activities will develop positive attitudes, zeal for learning sustainable cultivation techniques and farming aspects of black pepper, and will change the behavior of the participating farmers. Production of elite and disease-free black pepper seedlings will increase. Participants of extension and outreach activities will be guided to adopt recommended techniques and start commercial black pepper production farms. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop sustainable commercial black pepper production systems in Micronesia through providing elite, disease-free black pepper seedlings in bulk quantities and by improving knowledge and developing skills of local farmers about black pepper micropropagation, acclimatization and nursery management systems.

In vitro selection for salt tolerance in taro and sweet potato

KOSRAE, FSM. Dr. Virendra M. Verma, Researcher and Extension Specialist, Kosrae Agricultural Experiment Station.

Bottles of tissue cultured taro.
Bottles of tissue cultured taro.

In Vitro Selection for Salt Tolerance in Taro
Dr. Verma is Project Director of research project on In Vitro Selection for Salt Tolerance in Taro. Salinity, an abiotic stress that combines elements of water deficiency and sodium toxicity is among the most serious and widespread of agricultural problems on islands resulting in lost crop yield and arable land. Therefore, the efforts to develop salt-tolerant plants are of immense importance to increase crop productivity. In recent years, tissue culture based in vitro selection has emerged as a feasible and cost-effective tool for developing salt tolerant plants. Taro is one of the most important staple food crops in the Pacific Region for local consumption as well as for export. The crop contributes significantly to the socio-economics and provide livelihood to almost all island people and thus is crucial for ensuring nutritional and economic security.

In vitro selected salt tolerant taro plantlets with well-developed roots were acclimatized before transfer to the field. For acclimatization, the plantlets were transferred into pots containing sterile potting mix to avoid contamination and were kept in the greenhouse for subsequent 2-3 weeks. Acclimatized plants were then transferred to the nursery for maintenance. Fully acclimatized taro plants were evaluated for salt tolerance level in the field using randomized complete block design having 2’ distance between plants and 3’ between rows, ten plants per replication and six replications at two sites (coastal and inland) with susceptible local check in-between. Some plants of taro performed very well at coastal sites. In vitro conservation of selected salt tolerant taro germplasm for mass multiplication in future has been started.

Participants’ knowledge and skills about in vitro and in vivo selection techniques have been increased through collection and review of related literature, in vitro experimentation and conservation, establishment of nursery management system, development of high efficiency multiplication protocols, and production of elite seedlings.

Field days were organized at evaluation sites and participants from various municipalities attended and participated in the field days. The participants included enthusiastic small-scale farmers, producers, agriculture students, youths, extension agents, state government agricultural staff and agricultural professionals. During the field days, technical assistance and support were provided. Participants were encouraged to ask questions and appropriate answers were provided. All the participants showed great interest in the project and expressed willingness to participate in future training workshops.

Multi-color cultivation guide on taro has been developed, printed and distributed to all interested farmers.

 

In Vitro Selection for Salt Tolerance in Sweet Potato

KOSRAE, FSM. Dr. Virendra M. Verma, Researcher and Extension Specialist, Kosrae Agricultural Experiment Station. Dr. Verma is Project Director of research project on In Vitro Selection for Salt Tolerance in Sweet Potato. Salinity, an abiotic stress that combines elements of water deficiency and sodium toxicity is among the most serious and widespread of agricultural problems on islands resulting in lost crop yield and arable land. Therefore, the efforts to develop salt-tolerant plants are of immense importance to increase crop productivity. In recent years, tissue culture based in vitro selection has emerged as a feasible and cost-effective tool for developing salt tolerant plants. Sweet potato is one of the most important staple food crops in the Pacific Region for local consumption as well as for export. It contributes significantly to the socio-economics and provides livelihood to almost all island people and thus is crucial for ensuring nutritional and economic security.

Germplasm of different varieties of sweet potato collected from the Micronesia Region, have been planted and maintained in the greenhouse. Shoot apices were isolated from all varieties and inoculated on media to establish cultures. All varieties were established in vitro and maintained for further experiments. Different types of media were formulated by using various combinations of plant growth regulators along with other media components like organic and inorganic nutrients/minerals, vitamins and amino acids to develop suitable and efficient multiplication and maintenance protocols for all varieties. In vitro screening to study salt tolerance level in collected and tissue culture maintained germplasm of sweet potato has been started. Media formulation and preparation for in vitro screening for stress tolerance are under progress for sweet potato cultures. In vitro selected and acclimatized salt tolerant sweet potato plantlets will be further screened in the greenhouse and field.

Participants’ knowledge and skills about in vitro selection techniques have been increased through collection and review of related literature, in vitro experimentation, and development of high efficiency multiplication protocols.

Multi-color cultivation guide on sweet potato has been developed, printed and distributed to all interested farmers.

Extensive hands-on trainings on integrated sustainable agriculture for root crops, vegetables and fruit production

KOSRAE, FSM. Dr. Virendra M. Verma, Researcher/Extension Specialist, Kosrae Agricultural Experiment Station. 

The key concept of the project was to implement and demonstrate to small-scale farmers, a successful integrated sustainable agriculture system that is promising in island conditions and is safe for the environment. The project provided adequate opportunities to educate and train farmers and rural communities in on-farm implementation of sustainable agriculture systems through hands-on trainings including PowerPoint presentations.

Project coordinator Dr. Verma, producers and participants maintained a high level of interest for development, implementation and demonstration of multiple integrated activities for cropping systems in a sustainable manner. Demonstration plots developed and used for demonstration of planned outreach activities to encourage establishment of integrated sustainable agriculture systems. At the project sites, vigorously growing crops, harvest of excellent sweet potatoes, bananas, eggplants, soft taro, pineapple, hot peppers, black pepper, watermelons, wax guard, Chinese cabbage and papaya attracted much attention of local communities.

Experiments are showing positive results and farmers are showing increased interest in developing agricultural farms. The extension activities have improved knowledge, created awareness and developed skills of participants in sustainable agriculture systems. Ultimately extension activities have developed positive attitudes, zeal for learning techniques and farming aspects, and have changed the behavior and economic condition of the participants.

Crops explored at workshop.

Banana
Banana

Black pepper
Black pepper

Chinese cabbage
Chinese cabbage

Eggplant
Eggplant

Hot pepper
Hot pepper

Papaya
Papaya

Pineapple
Pineapple

Soft taro
Soft taro

Sweet potato
Sweet potato

Sweet potato
Sweet potato

Watermelon
Watermelon

Wax gourd
Wax gourd

Assessment of salt tolerance in taro and sweet potato: in vitro selection, greenhouse and field evaluation

KOSRAE, FSM. Dr. Virendra M. Verma, Researcher/Extension Specialist, Kosrae Agricultural Experiment Station. 

Salinity, an abiotic stress that combines elements of water deficiency and sodium toxicity is among the most serious and widespread of agricultural problems on islands resulting in lost crop yield and arable land. Therefore, the efforts to develop salt-tolerant plants are of immense importance to increase crop productivity. In recent years, tissue culture based in vitro selection has emerged as a feasible and cost-effective tool for developing salt tolerant plants. Sweet potato and taro are most important staple food crops in the Pacific Region for local consumption as well as for export. These crops contribute significantly to the socio-economics and provide livelihood to almost all island people and thus are crucial for ensuring nutritional and economic security. Both sweet potato and taro are placed on high agricultural priority but limitations in availability of salt tolerant germplasm, and disease-free and elite seedlings, is a major bottleneck in production. Therefore, the study is being undertaken for assessment of salt tolerance in taro and sweet potato through in vitro selection, followed by greenhouse and field evaluation. To establish aseptic cultures for collected germplasm of taro and sweet potato, various experiments were performed. Different concentrations of sodium chloride were used for in vitro selection of salt tolerant germplasm. This in vitro selected germplasm was further evaluated for salt tolerance in the greenhouse and finally was field evaluated at various sites in four replications. Some varieties of taro and sweet potato performed very well at coastal sites. Results based on various physiological and morphological parameters collected during the research.

Tissue culture sweet potato.
Tissue culture sweet potato.
Tissue culture taro.
Tissue culture taro.

 

 

Assessment of in vivo and in vitro grafting for rapid production of elite grafted lime seedlings

KOSRAE, FSM. Dr. Virendra M. Verma, Researcher/Extension Specialist, Kosrae Agricultural Experiment Station.

Dr. Verma, Project Director of grafting project procured budwood of Mexican lime from the Citrus Clonal Protection Program, University of California and the United States Department of Agriculture National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Citrus & Dates. Procured Mexican lime budwood was grafted on sour orange rootstock. For subsequent growth grafted plants were kept in the greenhouse. Seeds of sour orange were surface sterilized with commercial sodium hypochlorite bleach and in vitro aseptic cultures of sour orange were established for rootstock production. Murashige and Skoog, 1962 (MS) medium augmented with different concentrations of 6-furfurylaminopurine, 6-benzylaminopurine and indole-3-acetic acid was used for initiation and establishment of sour orange rootstock cultures. Nodal explants of Mexican lime were surface sterilized with commercial sodium hypochlorite bleach and lateral shoot buds were used for in vitro grafting experiments. Subsequent passages were given every four weeks on MS medium augmented with different concentrations of 6-furfurylaminopurine, 6-benzylaminopurine and indole-3-acetic acid for further growth. Data for in vivo and in vitro grafting experiments were recorded every week.

Lime is a valuable crop.
Lime is a valuable crop.

Both in vivo and in vitro grafting experiments showed positive results and sour orange rootstock accepted Mexican lime and Mexican lime thorn-less budwood. In vivo grafting experiments were performed during summer with 40% success rate for Mexican lime thorn-less budwood on sour orange rootstock while 10% success rate for Mexican lime budwood on same rootstock. In vivo grafted plants showed sprouting in the new bud during spring. In vitro grafting experiments were performed with 48% success rate for Mexican lime thorn-less budwood on sour orange rootstock. Participants skills and knowledge about in vitro and in vivo grafting techniques have been increased through collection and review of related literature; experimentation on in vitro and in vivo grafting; establishment of cultures; development of in vitro and in vivo grafting protocols; and production of elite grafted lime seedlings. The project has developed positive attitudes, zeal for learning techniques and has changed the behavior of the participants. Based on the data analysis of research carried out through this project, another project on mass-production of elite grafted citrus seedlings will be initiated.