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Kava production and marketing is a multi-million dollar business in the kava growing areas of the Pacific. In Fiji exports and domestic demand often outstrip production and kava is imported from neighbouring countries. Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu are the other major producers of kava in the region. In recent years a disease problem, kava dieback, has severely reduced yields of kava in certain areas of Fiji. The disease causes the plant to wilt and die from the tip and progressing back towards the main branches. The problem is so severe in some areas that yields are suppressed and the threat of loosing planting materials has become a reality. Already Tonga and Vanuatu have reported severe losses of planting material due to this disease. Use of disease free planting material is one recommended option to combat the problem. However, obtaining disease free planting material is difficult. Use of the scientific method called tissue culture now offers hope in producing disease free planting material. In tissue culture the growing tip of the kava plant, a very small microscopic piece, is initiated to produce cultures in a growth medium. This process is called sub-culturing and takes place inside small test tubes under controlled laboratory conditions. The process is time consuming and is particularly difficult for kava. To help in efforts to produce disease free planting materials the Fiji Ministry for Agriculture, Sugar and Land Re-settlement approached Plant Protection Services of SPC for assistance. Dr. Mick Lloyd, Head of Plant Protection Services with the assistance of Dr. Mary Taylor, Tissue Culture Adviser, Regional Germplasm Centre (RGC) identified technical assistance from the University of Hawaii. Dr. John Kunasaki, kava tissue-culture specialist from the Department of Horticulture of the University of Hawaii, is this week teaching SPC agricultural technicians protocols for micro-propagating kava planting material free from fungi and bacteria. “The two objectives for this trip are, first, to disseminate information on the kava micro-propagating protocol and, secondly, to offer hands-on training in initiating cultures. “The problem with micro-propagating kava is the difficulty in removing bacteria and fungi on the explant before putting on the culture medium,” said Dr. Kunasaki. Dr. Kunasaki said he was very impressed with the level of skills of the trainees. “I was expecting to do a lot more training but these guys are very skillful. It was just a matter of fine tuning their skills.” Ms. Valerie Tuia, one of the trainees working for the Regional Germplasm Centre, said that they can modify and improve on the protocol introduced by Dr. Kunasaki. “From this training we would be able to produce disease free planting material for kava and have it mass-produce for distribution to kava farmers in Fiji. We can also take this knowledge and disseminate to other tissue culture technicians through-out the region so that they produce their own disease free planting material and distribute to their own farmers.” “We can also apply different techniques to micro-propagating other crops like yams, breadfruit, cassava, etc,.” said Ms. Tuia. Ms. Raghani Prasad, research assistant, is hopeful this training and with the help of Dr. Kunasaki, will lead her to write a research proposal to pursue a Master’s degree in the micro-propagation of kava. Kava is a very popular beverage here in Fiji and throughout kava growing regions of the Pacific. Bowls of freshly prepared kava are as common in the work place here in Fiji as the ubiquitous coffee maker machine in other countries. A shell or two of kava causes a mild euphoric sensation and very soothing on the nerves. Consumed in copious amounts can lead to health and social problems. The jury is still out on the relationship between kava drinking and liver disease. The training and Dr. Kunasaki’s attendance was sponsored by the Plant Protection Service of SPC. |
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Ms. Raghani Prasad, graduate trainee, doing kava tissue
culture under the microscope, with Dr. John Kunasaki, Takiniko Ruabate