http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=414414

THE impact of climate change on traditional food sources in the Pacific, lack of interest by young farmers and the high importation of processed food were highlighted during the opening of the Pacific Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources Network meeting in Nadi this week.

Speaking at the opening of the forum on Monday, the Pacific Community's (SPC) land resources director Jan Helsen said the importance of the Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePACT) as a unique resource for the future plant and crop needs of the Pacific could not be emphasised enough.

CePACT is a vault kept in Fiji which houses varieties of the region's staple crops: taro, yam, sweet potato, banana, cassava and breadfruit.

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