Chronica - Acta Horticulturae

Section Tropical and Subtropical
First Int’l Symposium on Breadfruit
Fruits
Research and Development
Participants of the Symposium. Photograph by courtesy of Jim Wiseman, Breadfruit Institute,
NTBG.
The First International Symposium on
Breadfruit Research and Development took
place in Nadi, Fiji, 16-19 April 2007. Participants
came from Africa, the Seychelles, the
Caribbean, Sri Lanka, and the Pacific and
Australia, and included researchers from national,
regional, and international organizations,
universities, government ministries, NGOs, the
private sector, as well as Secretariat of the
Pacific Community (SPC) staff.
Five major themes provided the focus for the
Symposium, namely: 1) Breadfruit in Society, 2)
Diversity and Conservation, 3) Germplasm
Exchange and Crop Improvement, 4) Production
and Production Constraints, and 5) Product
Development and Marketing.
The Symposium consisted of 1.5 days of plenary
sessions where papers were presented by the
majority of participants. Aleki Sisifa, Director,
SPC Land Resources Division, opened the proceedings
with an excellent overview of breadfruit
in the Pacific, highlighting how it has developed
into an export commodity for some countries
in the Pacific, yet at the same time remains
an essential food security crop, especially for
atoll countries. The keynote address was given
by Dr. Diane Ragone, Director of the Breadfruit
Institute, National Tropical Botanical Garden
(NTBG), Hawaii, whose enthusiasm for, and
commitment to breadfruit is apparent to all
who meet her. Her efforts have ensured that
more than 120 varieties from the Pacific are
conserved in the world’s largest collection of
breadfruit (over 200 accessions) at the NTBG.
The plenary sessions were followed by Working
Group sessions, with each Group addressing
one theme of the Symposium, identifying possible
projects and prioritizing recommendations.
The Focus Session was devoted to developing a
global strategy for the conservation and utilization
of breadfruit and the sharing of breadfruit
germplasm using the multilateral system on
which the International Treaty for Plant Genetic
Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is
based.
A field trip was organized by Sant Kumar,
General Manager of the Nature’s Way
(Cooperative) Fiji Ltd. Participants were impressed
by both the Legalega Research Station
where staff are conducting research on different
propagation techniques and the processing
facility where fresh breadfruit is prepared for
export to New Zealand. An unexpected delight
was the lunch provided on the field trip where
there were nine different dishes - all prepared
with breadfruit!
The importance of sharing of knowledge and
information about breadfruit was a cross-cutting
issue with all the themes. The Symposium
showed that despite breadfruit being an underutilized
crop, there is a significant volume of
knowledge “out there”. Participants from the
Caribbean were interested in the agronomic
practices of the Pacific. Similarly there was interest
in presentations from the Caribbean
region, which described the approach they took
to improving the status of breadfruit in the
community. Documentation of agronomic practices
would also assist other regions/countries
to determine where breadfruit could be grown,
especially areas where there are food security
issues, such as in parts of Africa.
Judy Rouse-Miller and Dr. Laura-Roberts-
Nkrumah - University of the West Indies,
Trinidad - and Dr. Mary Taylor, SPC (left to
right), examine an air-layered breadfruit.
Photograph by courtesy of Jim Wiseman,
Breadfruit Institute, NTBG.
Opening ceremony with traditional Fijian ‘salusalu’. Photograph by courtesy of Jim Wiseman,
Breadfruit Institute, NTBG.
ISHS • 40