Knowledge for Development

The Pacific

A selection of S&T organisations in the Pacific.


The Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT)

The aim of the Center for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT) is to assist Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) to conserve the region’s genetic resources, and to provide access to the diversity they need, when they need it. Conservation is the core business of the center, with priority given to the region’s staple crops: taro, yam, sweet potato, banana, cassava and breadfruit. The center houses over 15,000 accessions in all. The center not only conserves the region’s valuable genetic diversity, but also undertakes the important mission of distributing it, making it available for growers throughout the Pacific to use. Quarantine services throughout the Pacific region recognize that virus-tested plantlets (tissue cultures) are a safe method for importing plant material. The Center also has a strong research program. Currently research activities include the development of micro propagation protocols for sandalwood and pandanus; cryopreservation of aroids; salt tolerance studies on swamp taro and taro virus research. In the past CePaCT has worked with the University of South Pacific (USP, Fiji) in supporting Masters in kava micropropagation and taro cryopreservation, and with USP and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT, Brisbane, Australia) in supporting a PhD in somatic embryogenesis.

23/11/2010


The Food and Fertilizer Technology Centre for the Asian and Pacific Region

The Food and Fertilizer Technology Centre (FFTC, Taipei, Taiwan) is a regional information center that collects and disseminates research results generated by agricultural centers in the Asia-Pacific (ASPAC) region. Its aim is to provide small-scale farmers with knowledge and information about matured technologies and information generated by scientists. FFTC was established in 1970 to act as a clearing house for the agricultural research carried out in the ASPAC region, with the mission to collect and disseminate practical and technical information in agriculture, contributing to the achievement of increased output and higher incomes for small-scale farmers, promoting the sharing and exchange of agricultural information among ASPAC countries.

23/11/2010


Traditional Pacific Island Crops

The goal of the Traditional Pacific Island Crops website is to provide organized access to quality, free Web resources that provide information on these twelve important traditional Pacific Island crops. This is not intended to be a comprehensive listing of resources. Resources are selected based on their relevance to Pacific islands. The emphasis is on collecting full-text resources so that Pacific Islanders - especially librarians, Extension agents, farmers, and students - can find and access the information they need to grow and market the 12 crops covered in the database.

30/08/2011


United Nations Asian and Pacific Centre for Agricultural Engineering and Machinery (UNAPCAEM)

http://www.unapcaem.org/The United Nations Asian and Pacific Centre for Agricultural Engineering and Machinery (UNAPCAEM) is a subsidiary body/regional institution of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), based in Beijing, P.R. China. UNAPCAEM is committed to enhancing environmentally sustainable agricultural and food production, applying green and modern agro-technology for the well being of producers and consumers of agricultural/food products. This organisation pursues its missions through information exchange and knowledge networking, policy research, technical assistance in capacity building and training, outreach/advocacy programmes, and by fostering partnerships. It is focusing on three thematic cluster programmes: agricultural engineering, food chain management, and agro-enterprise development and trade. APCAEM maintains a ‘Directory of Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers’ that covers 15 countries within the Asian Pacific region, including Fiji.

1/07/2011


University of the South Pacific (USP)

University of the South Pacific (USP) is one of only two regional universities in the world. Its member countries are: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Samoa. The main Campus is in Suva, Fiji, and there is a second campus in Samoa where the School of Agriculture and the Institute for Research, Extension and Training in Agriculture and Rural Development (IRETA) are located. The University has four academic schools: Agriculture, Humanities, Pure and Applied Sciences and Social and Economic Development. Consultancies, research and short-term training are also carried out by five institutes: Applied Sciences, Education, Marine Resources (now relocated to Honiara, Solomon Islands), Pacific Studies, IRETA, and Social and Administrative Studies.

14/12/2004