Abaca is endemic to the Philippines and is a source of fiber that is internationally known as Manila hemp. It is an important export crop and is a major dollar earner for the country, generating USD 80 million annually from 1996 to 2000. The Philippines supplies 85% of abaca in the world market. As of 2008, abaca was cultivated in about 140,000 hectares in 52 provinces.
The demand for abaca pulp and fiber will continue to increase as more countries shift to the use of natural fibers in their bid to eliminate dependence on materials that use fossil fuels. Car manufacturers use abaca as composite materials for vehicle interiors and automotive parts.
The abaca industry is relying solely on traditional varieties for its survival in the absence of new and improved varieties. The old abaca varieties had outlived their usefulness and have become easy prey to disease-causing insects. Aside from this, the abaca bunchy top virus or ABTV has posed a major threat to the fiber industry.
Fighting ABTV
Abaca bunchy top virus, first reported in 1915 in Silang, Cavite and in 1937 in Davao province, has wiped out a total of 12,000 hectares in Laguna, Batangas, and Cavite. The virus has spread to the Bicol region, Sorsogon, and Eastern Visayas.
The disease is transmitted by an aphid vector called Pentalonia nigronervosa. An abaca infected with ABTV has yellowish-white, chlorotic areas on lamina margins of unfurled leaf while its mature leaves become dark green, stiff, narrow, erect, and necrotic. Its petioles begin to rise from the same plant at the upper end of the stem-like part which results to a rosette or bunchy appearance, hence called bunchy top. Infected plants may remain alive for years but they gradually become smaller until their leaves and leaf sheaths turn brown and die.
Very limited attention is devoted to varietal improvement, which is one reason why there is a decline in the abaca industry. The University is at the forefront of abaca research to address this concern since the 1950s but this was stopped in the 1960s due to lack of funds. After two decades, the UPLB abaca research sprung back with the CSC-IPB starting the abaca breeding program in 1981.
'Eureka moment’
According to Dr. Lalusin, his research aimed at developing improved abaca varieties with high fiber quality and with resistance to ABTV. He said that these abaca varieties should have high yielding potential, high degree of uniformity and superior strength and consistency in its fiber properties to hew to industrial standards. They must be resistant to major diseases of abaca such as ABTV and mosaic viruses. Abaca varieties should also have desirable plant architecture, number of leaves, and leaf area. They should also be adapted to low input production.
He said that in the past, most varieties that IPB developed had resistance to the virus but had very poor or low quality fiber. However, Dr. Lalusin had a “eureka moment” when he found six best abaca varietal hybrid selections, which came from several backcrossing of wild banana and abaca. The varieties have the best qualities of an abaca, such as above average fiber strength, fiber length, fiber recovery (the characteristic of the fiber to retain as many amount of fiber after it has been dried), and plant height. According to him, these varieties are very good sources of fiber for paper making. Prototypes of papers produced and tested by the Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) using the fibers from the hybrid variety were of high quality.
According to Dr. Lalusin, his team will not stop here. They will continue to look at ways on how to further improve the varieties they have bred. Recently, samples of fibers were sent to an abaca processor in Baybay, Leyte and the fibers passed the said processor’s standards. The Department of Agriculture-Biotech Project Implementation Unit (DA-Biotech PIU) headed by Director Alicia Ilaga, has expressed its desire to bring the technology to farmers in Baybay, Leyte. Work with the DA-Biotech PIU may still be underway but UPLB has high hopes that the hybrids produced will benefit abaca farmers and eventually help alleviate the abaca industry.
