Breadfruit, one of the crop species held by the Pacific Seeds Bank.
Image: Ashay VB, CC BY-SA 4.0
The project, which will run for 5 years, aims to build a resilient seed system – a diverse portfolio of high-quality plant genetic resources that is available at all times for farmers and growers.
This work is crucial to ensure sustainable food production in the face of natural disasters and climate change, and to improve the health of Pacific people by broadening their crop diversity.
Manaaki Whenua’s role in the project is to offer technical support for the Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees, which houses the Pacific Seeds Bank for clonal crop varieties in the Pacific (yam, taro, sweet potato, banana, and breadfruit, among others). Our work includes virusindexing their live collections to ensure they are clean before splitting and distribution to Pacific countries.