Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation

The recently completed NFA Nago Island marine hatchery and training facility at Kavieng, New Ireland can now support development of mariculture opportunities in PNG. The facility is also intended as a training centre for students from the National Fisheries College - located in Kavieng and affiliated with the University of Natural Resources and Environment. This project will help to address the need for capacity building at the facility by developing a strategy to strengthen institutional mariculture training in PNG. It will also identify local species with potential to support viable, sustainable mariculture industries for coastal communities.

Smallholder production of horticultural crops is the main source of staple food throughout much of the Pacific region. Traditional cropping systems in the Pacific Islands have relied on either fallow periods between crops, or in the case of atolls the recycling of large amounts of organic material in pits or heaps, for use as a fertiliser. Population growth has changed these traditional cycles, with smallholders intensifying cropping rotations to supply both urban and export markets. The intensification of these systems has been matched by increased efforts to replenish soil nutrients and organic matter, resulting in declining soil fertility and biological soil health. In addition increased levels of soil erosion, which threatens freshwater and marine systems is also being reported. These issues are being investigated, including through the Development of Sustainable Agriculture in the Pacific initiative, implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, in consultation with governments and research and extension services of Pacific Island countries. Support for this initiative from ACIAR is being developed, by identifying appropriate cropping systems for investigation, and establishment of pilot participatory research sites to develop baseline data, identify 'best bet' options for improving soil health and the indicators most appropriate to determining overall soil health. These outcomes will be fed into other ACIAR project work, to increase the productivity of key staple crops such as taro and banana.

The catchments of the Murray-Darling Basin and the Mekong drain similar areas. Both systems contain unique fish communities that are important sources of biodiversity, food security and recreational opportunities. But irrigation development in both Australia and Lao PDR has led to construction of numerous water regulation devices that limit migratory fish movement, and in many areas this has led to severe declines in fish production. Previous research in Australia and Lao PDR has demonstrated that there are fish-passage technologies with the potential to aid the movement of migratory fish past low-level (less than 6-metre) barriers. Fisheries agencies in both countries are thus interested in increasing capacity to design, manage and operate fish passage facilities on new and existing low-level water control structures. This project will identify and prioritise water infrastructure that creates migration barriers to lateral fish migrations between the Mekong River, its tributaries and floodplain habitat and undertake research to determine the effectiveness of low-cost fishways for widespread application at floodplain barriers in the lower Mekong basin. The researchers will also quantify the biological, ecological and socio-economic benefits of floodplain rehabilitation using fish passage technology to increase awareness and uptake of low-cost mitigation measures.

PC/2010/026 Validating and documenting a strategy for producing virus-free sweetpotato planting material in Papua New Guinea

Pests and diseases, especially a poorly defined complex of viruses, are thought to have led to the decline in productivity of sweetpotato crops in Papua New Guinea (PNG). An earlier project set out to characterise virus problems, estimate yield losses associated with them and test the deployment of pathogen-treated (PT) planting material. But the PNG varieties proved easily damaged by the heat treatment used (in Australia) to eliminate viruses, and it was only towards the end of the project that a thermotherapy system in a new laboratory at the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) in PNG yielded promising results. This small research activity (SRA) is taking the work a step further to provide a foundation for a national 'clean seed system' for sweetpotato in PNG. Its objectives are to complete the validation and documentation of the protocol for thermotherapy of viruses and to establish trials to estimate the rate of virus re-infection under farm conditions. The work will also build skills in virus thermotherapy and indexing techniques within a NARI team.

HORT/2010/030 Samal Island R&D Mango Study Tour 2010

Samal Island near Mindanao in the Philippines has a developing mango industry that is currently part of the ACIAR Fruit Value Chains Program. The island is being developed as a mango value chain model for use in HORT/2007/067- Component 4 and as a 'best practice' demonstration and vehicle for technology dissemination to other mango growers and groups in the southern Philippines. The growers have formed into an association - the Samal Island Mango Growers Association (SIMAGA) - that is taking a cooperative approach to production, marketing and research. They have obtained land and resources for a research centre and are looking to develop co-operative facilities for the disinfestation and marketing of mangoes. Growers, industry leaders and R&E staff are rapidly taking up the technologies emerging from the ACIAR research. This small project will support a tour for Samal mango growers to visit Queensland to study technologies used by Australian growers. They will learn about best practices in Australian operations, observe and learn from cooperative approaches to production and marketing, observe Australian harvesting practices, study mango nursery propagation, and develop skills and expertise to equip them as a resource for other growers groups.

The horticulture sector in Pakistan is significant both domestically and for export production. The mango and citrus industries in Pakistan are the country's most important horticultural tree crops, with Pakistan a significant global producer and increasingly, exporter. Despite considerable plantings, however, productivity levels are low, and post-harvest losses are estimated at 40 per cent. Key issues impacting on yield and quality include inadequate irrigation and drainage, poor canopy management and the incidence of major pests and disease. In both Pakistan and Australia, significant scope exists for the further development of the mango industries, and considerable opportunity exists to target enhanced benefits to Pakistan's poor and marginalised.

HORT/2010/006 builds on the knowledge obtained from two previous ACIAR projects in Pakistan, which focused on the potential markets, supply chains and post-harvest quality of mangoes, and the development of disease free nurseries through integrated orchard and disease management approaches. The objectives of HORT/2010/006 include the establishment and spread of 'clean' mango nurseries, the development of improved orchard management practices and the facilitation of capacity building capabilities in the industry to improve value chain benefit flows. In economic terms, this project is estimated to increase gross revenue of US$1.8m per annum at a farm level. For Australia, benefits will primarily be realised through a reduction of yield losses due to postharvest disease, currently estimated at $14m annually.

Mangoes are one of Pakistan's most important fruit crops, constituting 4 per cent of the world's annual production. Until 2008, however, Pakistan received the lowest average price per kilogram of any major mango exporting country in the world, largely due to the poor quality of its fruit, inadequate postharvest technologies and ineffective marketing practices. Despite this, Pakistan mango varieties have great potential to satisfy consumers, boasting sweet, smooth flesh and thin skin. Significant scope therefore exists for the further development of the mango industry.

Building on a number of ACIAR mango projects in Pakistan, the primary aim of HORT/2010/001 is to continue to develop and improve domestic and export value chains, focusing on delivering better quality fruit to consumers, developing and improving markets, and demonstrating value chain principles through capacity building. Domestically, growth in export markets will relieve oversupply pressures on local markets, and add pressure on smallholders to increase the quality of their yield. From an R&D perspective, this project also offers opportunities to build capacity in both biophysical and social sciences within Pakistan universities and government agencies.

Pork is an important meat in the Philippines, with an estimated 98 million Filipinos relying on the meat as their main source of dietary protein. Around 60% of all meat consumed and produced in the country is pork. In Australia the pig industry has an annual production value of $1.24 billion, with around 17% of total production exported.
A major constraint common to pig industries in both countries is respiratory disease. In the Philippines an estimated 50% of all pig mortalities are caused by respiratory disease, while in Australia estimates provided to Australian Pork Limited are that these diseases cost between $30 to $100 per sow annually.
Although the underlying disease agents differ, the scientific skills and technologies to diagnose, control and protect pigs are the same. A recent outbreak in Luzon in the Philippines of a pathogenic strain of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus prompted the Philippines Government to request collaboration from Australia on field investigations and laboratory diagnosis to support ongoing control programs.
The scale and structure of the pork industry differs significantly between the two countries. In the Philippines the industry is highly diverse, dominated by smallholder farmers relying on pork for income and food security. The industry is also an interdependent commercial mix of breeding companies and those smallholders who grow or fatten pigs. Exports of pork have only recently commenced. Australias industry is large scale with a peak body (Australian Pork Limited) and a relatively high herd health status. Australian producers export around 17% of total production, with an estimated value of around $130 million.
The potential incursion of PRRS and disease outbreaks is a cause of concern for Australian pork producers and industry bodies. This project is working to identify technical gaps in field outbreaks and surveillance, develop cost-effective laboratory tests for bacterial and viral agents for respiratory diseases, implement systems in both countries and develop mechanisms to communicate the results throughout the Philippines industry. The result will be a strengthened industry in both countries, through effective surveillance and controls against respiratory diseases.