Fiji Dwarf Coconut is One Tough Nut
June 5, 2008| |
The "Fiji Dwarf" coconut variety may be able to save the US coconut industry which is being destroyed by the lethal yellowing (LY) phytoplasma. Coconut in the US is being valued for their fruit and processing by-products as well as it being an important landscape element. However, since 1970, the yellowing disease started attacking the South Florida coconut canopy which destroyed about 100,000 coconut palms.
Breeding strategies in Agricultural Research Service in Miami, Florida has commenced since then and the Fiji Dwarf coconut was selected by ornamental growers because of its heavy, dense crown of short, dark leaves; variable resistance to LY in Florida; and tolerance to nutritional deficiencies of Florida's relatively infertile soils. In addition, the scientists also observed that in the past six years, not a single Fiji Dwarf has died of LY at the Subtropical Horticulture Research Station (SHRS) in Miami. Further research in the station is currently focused on the development of LY resistance in the Fiji Dwarf and other varieties through molecular tools.
See details of the research in the press release at:http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2008/080529.htm
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