The Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa and the Food and Agriculture Organisation are collaborating to build its capacity on tissue culture.

The collaboration on capacity building focusing on tissue culture is to enable support and the sustaining of biodiversity through the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Technical Cooperation Programme.

The S.R.O.S. and F.A.O. collaboration was announced in a press release that was issued last Friday, which also defined tissue culture as a technique which involves the use of small pieces of plant tissue for rapid multiplication of planting materials.

Tissue culture is seen as an important technology for developing countries for the production of disease-free, high quality planting material and the rapid production of many uniform plants.

The Government of Samoa had requested technical assistance from the F.A.O. to help increase agriculture crops production in a bid to improve commercial opportunities for Samoan farmers and exporters. 

An inception workshop to launch the programme was held at S.R.O.S. last Friday while the technical cooperation programme will build the capacities of relevant Government staff on tissue culture production, conservation and management, and tissue culture protocols and laboratory management practices.  

According to the F.A.O. Subregional Coordinator for the Pacific Islands, Xiangjun Yao her organisation had learnt that the recently built tissue culture laboratory at Nu’u Research Station is the only laboratory in the Pacific Region, which could replicate the genebank at the Pacific Community in Suva, Fiji. 

She said that this led to the Government of Samoa requesting technical assistance from the F.A.O. to assist in increasing agriculture crops production to help improve commercial opportunities for Samoan farmers and exporters.

Ms. Yao said that with the launching of the technical cooperation programme for building capacities on tissue culture to support and sustain biodiversity for food security and nutrition at the S.R.O.S. the F.A.O. is confident that ultimately Samoa farmers will have a more stable supply of disease-free planting materials which contribute to national food and nutrition security and rural development.