Agriculture.ph Blog

Low productivity characterizes the abaca industry in Eastern Visayas, a top abaca fiber producing region in the country. This problem is mainly due to lack of high-yielding, and pest- and disease-resistant varieties with good quality fibers.  Moreover, most plantations are old and planted to a mixture of low-yielding varieties that are susceptible to abaca bunchy top and mosaic virus diseases.

Cognizant of these problems, a team of researchers from the National Abaca Research Center (NARC)–Visayas State University evaluated 23 entries and identified promising accessions.  Based on composite scoring of different growth and yield parameters, five accessions, namely, NARC-M115 (Maguindanao Black), NARC-M196 (Balingon), NARC-M228 (Unknown A), NARC–M259 (Alman # 5), and NARC-M283 (Balunan # 2), outperformed the check varieties, ‘Inosa #2’ and ‘Laylay’.

Other accessions also showed promise in terms of fiber recovery (NARC-M321), tensile strength (NARC-M60, NARC-M221), and resistance to abaca bunchy top virus (NARC-M174). These accessions are potential sources of desirable traits for future crop improvement and offer a pool of materials for the abaca growers to select from after further testing to answer their specific needs and hopefully end their woes.

For further information on these accessions, you may contact – The Director, National Abaca Research Center – Visayas State University, Visca, Baybay City, Leyte 6521, or call (053) 335-2653, or write an e-mail and send it to narc@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Production Guide for Abaca -> http://www.agripinoy.net/production-guide-for-abaca.html#more-908

Written by Maria Adelia C. Belen, S&T Media Service

Source: www.pcarrd.dost.gov.ph