There’s still hope for indigenous orchids

With the pronouncement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) that Philippine orchids are already endangered, the need to conserve the country’s remaining orchid species, becomes imperative.

In addition to the traditional way of conserving orchids through field collection of living plants, usually in greenhouses or nethouses and through embryo cultures, researches at the University of the Philippines Los Baños – Institute of Plant Breeding (UPLB-IPB) have devised a system for conserving Philippine indigenous orchids using seeds.

Researchers Nestor C. Altoveros, Dr. Rachel C. Sotto, Lilia F. Pateña, Mary Ann R. Dioneda, Alice L. Bariring, and Dr. Ramon C. Barba have maintained the diversity of Philippine orchid species by storing fruit and fruit capsules and seeds in cold storage.

The researchers proved that storing seeds under low temperature and moisture content is a very promising way of conserving orchid germplasm. They explained that orchids have orthodox seeds, which means that they can be stored under low temperatures and moisture contents without losing their viability. In the Philippines, however, this practice is still largely unfamiliar.

During the three-year project, some 2,454 accessions of indigenous orchid genotypes were collected from 28 provinces.

Having taken the seeds from the mature capsules, they are dried and stored under lower temperature and moisture content. After this, they are rehydrated and germinated in the laboratory until they regenerate plantlets.

This effort has won for the IPB researchers the Philippine Agricultural Resources Research Foundation, Incorporated (PARRFI) Research Award, conferred by the Los Baños Science Community Foundation Inc. (LBSCFI). LBSCFI is composed of public and private development institutions in Los Baños, with diverse yet complementary strengths in the sciences, arts, business, and social services. It is being managed by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCARRD-DOST). – Clarinda Llamas-Apolinar, S&T Media