Authors: R. Bourdeix (Bioversity, CIRAD Umr CEFE) and J.L. Konan Konan (CNRA, Côte d'Ivoire) Estimated total budget: 30,000 USD Budget requested from donors: 15,000 USD Duration: 18 months Location and potential partners: any of the International Coconut Genebanks, in association with Bioversity and/or CIRAD. Potential donor(s): to be identified. Project background and rationale Collaborative work by Bioversity International and numerous crop research establishments aims to improve the documentation of plant genetic resources by providing a uniform series of crop descriptors. The last revision of coconut descriptors dates back to 1992 (IBPGR, 1992). According to Laliberté & al. (1999), on average, each set of descriptors is revised approximately every 10 years. There is a real need to refine descriptors. In the case of coconut, the observation of organs is a complex process, because the palms are large, organs are not easy to collect and compare, and significant variability linked to both environment and seasons. In fact, there has never been a proper botanical analysis of the descriptors to effectively differentiate coconut varieties. |
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The present descriptors for coconut are not sufficient to comprehensively identify most of the allogamous Tall coconut cultivars. These descriptors facilitate differentiation of dwarf cultivars, because autogamous dwarfs are more homogeneous, and smaller in size (so easier to observe) than the tall varieties.There are no coconut descriptors for roots, the morphology and size of female and male flowers, the morphology of pollen, the upper part of the fruit, the 3 eyes of the nut, and the top of the canopy. This work could be conducted in an International Coconut Genebank using a technique of comparing standardized digital photographs. From a broader perspective, this project could study how digital imaging and dedicated software can be used to facilitate gathering characterization data for coconut palm varieties. Objectives To develop new descriptors in order to facilitate the identification of coconut cultivars Project management and organization (to be refined) The study will concern:
So a total of 7200 standardized digital photographs List of organs to be pictured (to be refined)
Ouputs
References IBPGR. 1992. Descriptors for coconut. International Board for Plant Genetic |
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