Abaca industry fights viruses, starts bid to become RP's big income earner

MANILA, Philippines - Abaca, a family of Musaceae from which Musa textile is derived, is a plant indigenous to the Philippines. Although it is also known variously as Manila hemp, Cebu, hemp or sometimes Davao hemp, abaca is not related to true Hemp, one of the fastest growing biomasses known for the "Green Future." Abaca fiber is second in importance among the leaf fiber group. Unlike other fibers, abaca fibers are obtained from the plant leaf. The stalk is the source of the abaca fiber, retrieved through the extraction of tuxies from the outermost portion of the leaf sheath. Fibers are then extracted through hand stripping or through a stripping machine. The dried outer leafsheath, also known in the industry as Abaca-bacbac is used in making handicraft items. It is skinny on the upper side of the leaf, but soft and fleshy on the other side. It is not receptive to penetration of colorants and has a low tensile strength. Bacbac is sometimes called Havana hemp or Havana skin. The third and fourth layers of the leafsheath, or lupis as others call it, are brown in color and skinny on the other part of the stripped fiber. It is bigger compared to fine abaca. Like the bacbac, this part of the plant is also used for handicraft items. It may also be used in making fashion accessories, furniture, packaging materials, tabletop accessories and other decors. Abaca is believed to have evolved in the Bicol Region. Long before the Spaniards came to the Philippines in 1521, our ancestors were already processing abaca into breathable fabrics and durable sandals. In 1821, a US Navy lieutenant brought abaca fiber samples to the US. A cargo of abaca was sent to Salem, Massachusetts under the label "Manila." The Americans later became the largest abaca importers as the port of Manila was opened for international trade in 1834. The versatility of abaca fiber has been proven by the its many applications, from ropes, bags, hats, footwear, decorative accessories, and other items and then to furniture, fixtures, paper and textiles. A famous abaca product is sinamay, or woven abaca fibers that come in different colors and used to make clothes apart from their being transformed into packaging materials and decorations. Abaca fiber is also used for making pulp, which is the raw material for the production of paper bills. The P20 and P500 bills contain almost 20 percent abaca fiber. Tea bags, coffee filters, meat casing, coating for pills, cable insulation papers, insulation for computer chips, etc., may also be derived from the abaca fiber. The advancement in technology has made it possible for abaca fiber to be used for the interiors of automobiles or as substitute for fiberglass. In the US, abaca enzymes are being used for cosmetics and skin care products. Even the stripping waste of abaca has many uses. It may be used as a growing medium for mushroom culture, raw material for handmade papers, compost, alcohol production, while the residue from alcohol extraction may be processed into waxes or used in making organic fertilizers. Abaca fiber production is one of the Philippines' greatest contributions in the world trade. About 85 percent of the abaca fiber supply in the whole world comes from the Philippines. Abaca grows almost anywhere in the Philippines, from Sorsogon, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Catanduanes, Davao Oriental, Northern Samar, Davao del Sur, Sulu, and Surigao del Sur. Abaca fibers coming from Leyte and Southern Leyte are known to be the most durable. The abaca industry plays a vital role for the Philippine economy since it earns $76 million annually and employs 1.5 million people. However, the entire industry is under threat by pernicious pests like Bracht Mosaic, Mosaic, and the Bunchy-top. To maintain the country's global edge in the market, the Department of Agriculture-Biotechnology Program Office (DA-BPO), in collaboration with the Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA), Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) of UP Los Banos and some of the country's top scientists are conducting studies on the production of virus-resistant abaca plants to increase fiber production and thus improve the earnings of the industry. Dr. Anton Lalusin of the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB), a horticulture plant breeding graduate of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) supervises the institute's study on the production of bunchy-top virus-resistant abaca. Lalusin started doing sweet potato research for IPB after he graduated in 1994 and headed to Japan for his masteral and doctoral studies on bioresearch engineering, specializing in molecular biology. He began to work on abaca when he came back from Japan and noted the focus was on the bunchy-top virus, the most deadly among the three viruses. An abaca plant infected with the bunchy-top virus stops growing and thus, no fiber could be derived from it. The first batch of their experiment was conducted through conventional breeding, assisted by molecular markers of the plant. The process of determining molecular markers is similar to that of fingerprint matching. It is used to identify a particular genetic sequence. Lalusin's team "Pakol," a native variety of banana as a parent of the abaca, since it has virus-free characteristics. The group was successful in producing a bunchy-top virus-free abaca strain. However, they needed to conduct more studies since the one they produced was poor in fiber quality. To secure the good fiber quality of the abaca, they rebred the abaca plant they produced with another abaca plant. They now have abaca plants that contain almost 87.5 percent of abaca gene. The group expects to harvest the plants this month. To further strengthen the efforts of the DA-BPO to maintain the Philippines triumph in supplying abaca fiber across the globe, other projects like the production of the first ever Abaca manuscript is being done to provide more information about the importance of abaca. Another group of researches in IPB supervised by Dr. Dizon is doing a research on the production of mosaic and bracht-mosaic virus-resistant plants through e-radiation. DA-BPO aims to revitalize the abaca industry and transform it into a leading product that is truly indigenous to the country. - BIOLIFE NEWS SERVICE