CIRAD BANANA TEAM VISIT
CIRAD
As one of the beneficiaries under the Interreg Biodiv 2D Project, Saint Lucia welcomed a team of 3 researchers from CIRAD Guadeloupe from June 19th – 23rd, 2023. The team comprised of Mr. Kodjo Tomekpe – Senior Plant Breeder, Mr. Jean Claude Efile – Agronomy Engineer and Mr. Jacques Louisor – Plant variety Selection officer. The Biodiv 2D project aims to support plant biodiversity and environmental health through appropriate technologies e.g. plant breeding, and tissue culture. The importance of establishing a regional plant biodiversity network is crucial to our resilience as we are faced with natural disasters and increasing environmental challenges as a result of climate change.
The visit to Saint Lucia had the main objective of assessing the varietal diversity amongst Musa Spp. which includes bananas, plantain, and macabou. Musa species can undergo somaclonal variation naturally, which means as new suckers are produced, they may display a different phenotypic/genetic characteristic from the parent plant. For biodiversity purposes and plant breeding, this is an advantage as these changes in the plant’s characteristics can potentially have some distinct advantages e.g. drought tolerance, increased tolerance or resistance to diseases, or dwarfed appearance. The identification of these plants are important to plant breeding efforts and further research. While on the ground, the team was accompanied by officers from the Plant Research & Development Division and Banana Management Unit and visited a number of Banana and Plantain Farmers in Vieux Fort, Micoud, and Dennery area.
