|
National Agricultural Research Institution (NARI)
The National Agricultural Research Institute was established by the Act of Parliament, Act No. 19 of 1984. It began functioning, as an autonomous body under the Minister of Agriculture, on January 1, 1985. The current research agenda of NARI consists of eight programmes. Six of these deal with research and development of Fruit and Perennial Crops, Root and Tuber Crops, Vegetables, Food Crops, Soils and the Environment and Livestock- Two programmes, Agricultural Services and Library and Documentation Centre gave support to farmers, agencies in the agricultural sector and to NARI's research effort. Some of the activities and major results
of the programmes are highlighted: Projects are in progress in the areas of genetic resources management and propagation, crop improvement technology and post harvest technology of fruit crops. In the area of genetic resources, field collections are maintained of the major and minor fruits. Characterization has also been done of germplasm of 34 avocado, 41 pineapple, four papaya and five guava accessions. Juice was evaluated for 362 accessions of West Indian Cherry. In order to aid in cultivar development, a laboratory has been established for isozyme analysis. This laboratory should soon be fully operational. New methods of plant propagation are being tested to help in nursery improvement. Propagation is being done for mango, avocado and minor fruits. In order to improve pineapple technology in the main growing areas, on-farm studies are ongoing. Preliminary findings show that plants treated with the plant growth regulator Ethepon at 30-50 ppm (plus urea) flowered almost a week earlier than plants treated with Naphthaleneacetamide (NAA) and a lower concentration of Ethepon. Results also show that the use of Ethepon affects Brix values of the fruits. Analysis is in progress on data collected from a trial to determine the effects of pineapple crown on the shelf life and quality of the "Montserrat" cultivar. Several activities are being carried out to improve the citrus commodity system. Rangpur lime, Tahiti lime and rough lemon were successfully induced to grow in vitro in the Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory. Field diagnosis of Citrus Tristeza was conducted in four areas. A trial was conducted to investigate the use of hot water treatment in the control of antracnose of Guyana Spice Mango. Five temperatures were tested against a control. Data analysis has not yet been completed. The crops of interest are cassava, sweet potato, eddo and yam. The three main areas being addressed are genetic improvement, crop management and improvement of post harvest handling. Collection missions visited several locations in Guyana to collect germplasm. During 1997, 30 accessions of cassava, 30 accessions of sweet potato and four accessions of yam were collected. This brought the number of accessions in the germplasm collection to the following:
Characterization of accessions is continuing. To complement the field collections, accessions are also stored in vitro. The in vitro collection contains five cassava, 18 sweet potato and one yam accessions. On-farm depositories of sweet potato were established on farms in Region # 5. A trial was conducted to evaluate seven sweet potato cultivars. Tapato was identified as the highest yielding cultivar. An experiment is in progress to assess 32 local cassava and 28 sweet potato accessions. In the area of crop management, one trial is in progress to determine optimal fertilizer rate and population density for cassava production. Another experiment aims to find the optimal fertilizer rate and management strategy for sweet potato production. Work is also in progress to diagnose a 'worm' pest of eddo reported in Region #3 and to develop a suitable management strategy. Four post-harvest studies were conducted A post harvest study on sweet potato set out to determine the response of this crop to curing and the effect of post harvest treatments on extension of storage life. Data analysis is in progress. The data from a trial to investigate the effect of freezing on cassava have also not yet been analyzed. Results from a trial on storage of fresh cassava showed that the use of moist sawdust and cassava leaves effectively preserved the quality of cassava tubers. This trial also revealed that clamps could provide a method of long term storage of large quantifies of tubers. Another experiment showed that pruning the aerial part of cassava plants (23 weeks before harvest) resulted in satisfactory preservation of cassava tubers. Data collection has started in the effort to identify root crop production systems in Region 3, one of the major root crop production regions in Guyana. Work is being conducted on germplasm collection and characterization, plant nutrition, pest management and seed production. Thirty five accessions of bora, boulanger, tomato and ochro
were obtained during 1997. The Four trials were conducted to evaluate 25 varieties of tomato. In one trial three introduced varieties were assessed against a local variety The local variety gave the highest marketable yield The introduced varieties however had firmer fruits. A second study evaluated four indeterminate varieties against a local variety. Highest yield was obtained from an introduced variety Capitan. The third trial consisting of six varieties, has been completed and data analysis is in the progress. The fourth trial involving 12 indeterminate fines, from AVDRC, and a local variety has not yet been completed. In an attempt to determine effective nutrition for optimal growth of boulanger and ochro two experiments were done. In the first boulanger trial, no significant difference was observed between treatments. Results from the first trial have not yet been analyzed. In the ochro trial there was no significant difference between the treatments. Seed production is in progress for a number of crops. Seed was harvested of bora and cucumber. Five banana and two plantain accessions were added to the germplasm collection bringing the total number of accessions to 33. Mutagenic treatment of plantain was done in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency. During 1997, a total of 1147 plantlets was produced in this trial. Studies are in progress to screen plantlets for moko disease on farmers plots. Five chemicals were evaluated for the management of leaf
minor Liriomyza sp. on legumes. Work is being done on soil and land use surveys, management
of aquatic weeds and soil Soil Surveys are in various stages of completion in Bonasilm, Leguan and Canal # 1 Polder. Results should provide information on the soil resources of these areas. The digitising of reconnaissance soil maps of Guyana, at 1: 1,000,000 and 1:500,000 scales has been completed. A land evaluation exercise was conducted of the Lima Sands area on the Essequibo Coast. Recommendations were made for management of these soils. Aquatic weed management work focussed mainly on collaborative activities with the East Bank Essequibo Development Project. Two herbicides were identified as promising for aquatic weed control. Recommendations were made to use the herbicide Round-up (glyphosate) and Arsenal (Imazapyr) for vegetation control on the edges along embankments. In soil physical management, two projects were done to determine the effect of bed size on soilmoisture utilization and the effect of organic waste material on sod physical properties and weed management. The bed size had no significant effect on moisture content. Although the long dry w~n may have affected the results. in the other experiment, the organic matter used seemed to have unproved the soil physical properties to some extent. The activities involved in this programme are forage production and the livestock farm. The forage component of the programme was reinstituted at NARI in May, 1997. The first activity was formulation of the research programme. Land preparation for pasture development started m August, 1997 and the ten fields identified for pasture are in various stages of completion. Planting of the fields is also in progress. The transfer of technology for unproved pasture and animal production and management systems is an on-going exercise. In June/July, 1997, NARI acquired the Livestock Farm from the Ministry of Agriculture. Rehabilitation of the infrastructure at the farm is in progress. A replacement flock of 582 Peking and 40 Kunshan ducks was established and maintained. A flock of 52 Moscovery ducks was also introduced The material will be used in a new breeding programme with selection primarily for weight gain. The buffalo unit was reorganized late in 1997 and 12 calves were recovered from the semen ferel herd. It is hoped that this material will form the basis of a manageable herd of buffalo. This programme encompasses the routine activities of Soil Chemistry, Entomology, Soil Physics, Plant Tissue Culture, Plant Pathology, Soil Microbiology and Research/Extension Liaison. The Soil Chemistry Laboratory received 1952 samples of soil, plant tissue and water in 1997. A total of 1491 samples was analyzed. During 1997, the Entomology section produced a total of 2175 bags of acoushi ant bait and 2049 bags of bait were sold to Region 1,3,4,5,7,8,9 and 10. Amazon Chemical Company and Guyana National Service. The Annual Pest Management Training Course was held from May 12 to 16, 1997. The course had 27 participants from 12 public sector and private sector institutions. In the Soil Physics Laboratory, 1583 samples were received and processed. The soil samples were analyzed for particle size, porosity, bulk density, moisture and saturated hydraulic conductivity. The Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory produced 2683 disease free plantlets of plantain in 1997. The production cost of each plantlet was estimated to be G$25.00 Current production disease free plantlets is as follows: - During 1997, the Plant Pathology Section received and processed 179 specimens. This section is also involved in field monitoring disease surveys and field visits. The Soil Microbiology Section maintained germplasm of Blue Green Algae, Azolla and Rhizobium. Rhizobium inoculant is also produced for farmers and agricultural institutions. Field visits are made, to areas in Regions 3 and 4, by the project officer of the Research Extension/Liaison Section. Two field days were conducted in Region 3 and two booklets were prepared on the production aces for coconut and tomato in 1997. In addition to the NARI database, two new databases, NARIS and ACQIS were created. NARI has a total of 8405 records and NARIS 1784 records. ACQIS is the database of publications on order. For 1997, a total of 1306 publications was accessioned and 178 books were repaired. This section also photocopied 62648 pages for students, farmers and researchers. Contact us at "nari@guyana.net.gy" |
