VARTCVanuatu Agricultural Research & Technical Centre
Seed champions training at VARTC, August 2023: participants among leafy crop seed plotsPhoto: SPC Land Resources Division

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Research programme · Frut mo garen · Horticulture et fruits

Horticulture & Fruit

Breadfruit, banana, citrus, pepper and island cabbage

The horticulture section looks after some of the Pacific's most valuable fruit and vegetable diversity: 102 bananas, 150 breadfruit, 20 citrus varieties and 7 pepper (2016).[1]

It runs off-season pineapple production and nursery work nationally, and island cabbage breeding regionally.[1]

Students working with CIRAD catalogued the Centre's breadfruit (2009), island cabbage (2010) and banana (2010) collections with the Global Crop Diversity Trust and SPC.[2]

In 2014 the Pacific Breadfruit Project surveyed the VARTC breadfruit collection and the Malo orchard.[3]

In 2026 VARTC scientists co-published a genetic study of 227 island cabbage (aibika) accessions held in Melanesian gene banks, including Vanuatu's.[4]

What we conserve

  • 102 bananas, 150 breadfruit, 20 citrus varieties (incl. pamplemousse, orange, tango, mandarin, Tahitian lime) and 7 pepper (2016)[1]

What we breed & study

  • Island cabbage breeding (regional activity)[1]
  • Off-season pineapple production and nursery[1]

What you can get

  • Grafted citrus (on demand), pepper, rambutan, mango and pineapple planting material[1]
  • Citrus, whole and ground pepper (black, white, green), tomatoes, carrots and pineapples — 2016 list[1]

Achievements

Key results

Breadfruit, island cabbage and banana collections catalogued (2009–2010)[2]
Aibika genetic diversity study across Melanesian gene banks (2026)[4]

In the field

Library blong VARTC

Related publications

1,052 records in the Knowledge Hub relate to this programme. VARTC and former-name work (IRHO, IRCC, CARFV, CTRAV) is marked ★ and listed first.

  • ★ VARTCVARTC/CTRAV 2003–CIRAD · INRAE · SPC · Bioversity / CIAT · COGENT · USP · Montpellier univ. · 2026

    Controlled pollination and reproductive strategies in coconut: A framework for farmer-led breeding, seednut production, and in situ conservation

    Bourdeix, Roland; Johnson, Vincent; Pilotti, Carmel; Ellacott, William; Chant, Herenui — Ethnobotany and Economic Botany

    • Coconut
    • Climate, biodiversity & genetic resources
    • Horticulture & vegetables
    Open DOI ↗ (opens in a new tab)
  • ★ VARTCVARTC/CTRAV 2003–VARTC · CIRAD · INRAE · Montpellier univ. · UNC / IAC · 2026

    Genetic diversity and morphological variation of aibika [Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medik.] in Melanesia

    Lawac, Floriane; Labouisse, Jean-Pierre; Rivallan, Ronan; Molgos, Rosanne; Paofa, Janet; Robert, Nadia; Lebot, Vincent — Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution

    • Horticulture & vegetables
    • Climate, biodiversity & genetic resources
    • Root crops & tubers
    Open DOI ↗ (opens in a new tab)
  • ★ VARTCVARTC/CTRAV 2003–VARTC · CIRAD · INRAE · Montpellier univ. · UNC / IAC · University (other) · 2026

    Morphological variation and genetic diversity of breadfruit [Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg] in Vanuatu

    Kaoh, Juliane; Labouisse, Jean-Pierre; Bulememe, Benonny; Rivallan, Ronan; Garavito, Andrea; Lebot, Vincent — Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution

    • Fruit & nuts
    • Climate, biodiversity & genetic resources
    • Soils & farming systems
    Open DOI ↗ (opens in a new tab)
  • ★ VARTCVARTC/CTRAV 2003–VARTC · CIRAD · INRAE · Montpellier univ. · UNC / IAC · 2026

    Shotgun sequencing data and SSR mining data of aibika (Abelmoschus manihot, Malvaceae)

    Rivallan, Ronan; Garavito, Andrea; Lawac, Floriane; Robert, Nadia; Paofa, Janet; Labouisse, Jean-Pierre — Data in Brief

    • Horticulture & vegetables
    • Climate, biodiversity & genetic resources
    • Root crops & tubers
    Open DOI ↗ (opens in a new tab)
  • ★ VARTCVARTC/CTRAV 2003–CIRAD · 2026

    Synthèse de la feuille de route cocotier. Vers une culture durable du cocotier [2024-2034]

    — CIRAD

    • Coconut
    • Fruit & nuts
    • Climate, biodiversity & genetic resources
    Open DOI ↗ (opens in a new tab)
  • ★ VARTCVARTC/CTRAV 2003–USP · University of Hawaii · 2024

    Breadfruit in the Pacific Islands, its domestication and origins of cultivars grown in East Polynesia and Micronesia

    Lex Allan James Thomson; Jean‐François Butaud; Paul Geraghty; William H. Wilson; David Mabberley — Journal of South Pacific Agriculture

    • Fruit & nuts
    • Climate, biodiversity & genetic resources
    Landing page ↗ (opens in a new tab)
  • ★ VARTCVARTC/CTRAV 2003–VARTC · CIRAD · INRAE · Montpellier univ. · University (other) · 2024

    Cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott) genetic resources and breeding: a review of 50 years of research efforts

    Lebot, Vincent; Ivancic, Anton; Lawac, Floriane — Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution

    • Root crops & tubers
    • Climate, biodiversity & genetic resources
    • Horticulture & vegetables
    Open DOI ↗ (opens in a new tab)
  • ★ VARTCVARTC/CTRAV 2003–VARTC · CIRAD · National Tropical Botanical Garden · 2024

    Compte rendu de génotypage des accessions d'arbre à pain de la collection de Raiatea (Polynésie Française)

    Labouisse, Jean-Pierre; Rivallan, Ronan; Lebot, Vincent — CIRAD

    • Fruit & nuts
    • Climate, biodiversity & genetic resources
    • Soils & farming systems
    CIRAD Agritrop record ↗ (opens in a new tab)

See all Horticulture & Fruit publications →

In the news

Sources on this page

  1. VARTC website, Horticulture Section (2016)
  2. V. Lebot CV (ISRC 2013)
  3. Pacific Breadfruit Project, Vanuatu trip report (2014)
  4. Lawac et al. 2026, Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution