Taro Improvement Project

What is TIP?

The Taro Improvement Project (TIP) is a Farmer Participatory Approach to taro breeding and selection for Samoa.

TIP was organized and initiated at the University of the South Pacific (USP) Alafua Campus in 1999. It represents a partnership between the University of the South Pacific (USP), the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. (MAF) Advisory Division, and farmers from the islands of Upolu and Savaii.

The aim is to bring together taro growers and provide them with more options for improving taro production and managing Taro Leaf Blight disease (TLB).

Initiation of the TIP was motivated by an interest to involve farmers representing different agro-climatic zones of both islands to compare taro exotic cultivars and improved taro from breeding programmes (cycles) using the Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) approach. Farmers who are actively involved in the evaluation of taro seedlings from breeding cycles meet every month as the TIP Farmers Club to share observations, ideas and to discuss possible ways to solve the Taro Leaf Blight problem.

TIP Objectives:

• Learn more about what farmers want from improved taro cultivars by involving them in the technology development process.
• Use many farmers under diverse environments, providing them with a range of options so that they can select the best for their conditions. This also ensures that farmers gain quicker access to TLB resistant taro.
• Increase the diversity of taro cultivars grown by farmers to minimize the risk of a repeat disease outbreak.
• Strengthen the linkages between researchers (USP-SAFT), extension staffs (MAF) and farmers.

Contact:

For more information on Taro Improvement Project (TIP). Contact:

Tolo Iosefa
Taro Improvement Project (TIP) Coordinator
University of the South Pacific, School of Agriculture and Food Technology (SAFT)
Alafua Campus
SAMOA
Phone # (685) 21671 ext. 257
Fax # (685) 22933
e-mail address - iosefa_t(at)samoa.usp.ac.fj