Project Name：Food Security and Agronomic and Horticultural Crops Development Project (Bahrain)

Project status：Completed projects

Cooperating Country：Middle East, Bahrain

Project Description：

Bahrain is a small country in the Persian Gulf. Income is high, as are living standards. The Bahraini government has begun to pay significant attention to the issue of food security in response to the impact that the greenhouse effect and global warming are having upon the climate. At the same time, the government has also been encouraging the development of the local flower industry and improvements to relevant cultivation techniques. As such, the Taiwanese government has assigned three consultants to implement three sub-projects focusing on (i) food security and flowering plant development; (ii) date palm and orchid tissue culture propagation techniques; and (iii) orchid cultivation demonstration and ornamental plant production.

Overall, the project will:

1. 1.In line with Bahraini agricultural policy, produce agricultural and horticultural crop seedlings, and demonstrate and promote crop cultivation techniques, improving farmers’ production skills and increasing crop production.
   
2. Assist Bahrain in establishing tissue culture technologies sufficient to meet current domestic demand.
   
3. Assist Bahrain in establishing orchid and ornamental plant cultivation practices, demonstrating cultivation techniques and counseling farmers so as to develop the orchid industry and beautify the local environment.
   

   
   

   Project No：TCD-2010-F02-01

   Implementation Start Date：2011-01-01

   Implementation End Date：2014-12-31

   Project Objectives：

   The objectives of this project are:

   1. Cultivate 60,000-80,000 seedlings of crops of agronomic and horticultural value and demonstrate and promote crop cultivation models, with the purpose of producing 1,000 tons of fruits and vegetables over 36 hectares.
      
   2. Conduct micro-propagation experiments of date palm seedlings;   establish orchid micro-propagation procedure and maintain 300 explants, including different cultural stages, for demonstration in the Lab; train 2-5 Bahraini technicians to work independently per year.
      
   3. Demonstrate the cultivation of 20,000 phalaenopsis seedlings; provide consultation on cultivation technology with the purpose of helping Bahrain to become a center for phalaenopsis production in the Middle East.
      
   4. Produce 50,000-80,000 bedding flowers, 8,000 potted flowers, 6,000 foliage plants and 400 fruit tree seedlings; increase the variety of fruits available in Bahrain by promoting planting of tropical fruits.
      

   Executing Agency：

   1. Taiwan Technical Mission in the Kingdom of Bahrain
   2. Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning (Kingdom of Bahrain)

   Current Progress：

   To the end of December 2014, the following activities have been completed:

   In 2011:
   

   1. Assisted farmers in producing 11,885 vegetable seedlings.
      
   2. Produced 20,000 bedding plants.
      
   3. Provided 26 wax apple plantlets and 1,427 papaya seedlings to farmers.
      
   4. Subcultured 454 date palm callus in vitro and as plantlets, and 418 somatic embryos in vitro.
      
   5. Subcultured 5,969 Phalaenopsis explants and 90 bottles of hybrid seedlings in the initial and second generation cultures.
      
   6. Demonstrated cultivation of 5,560 orchid plants.
      
   7. Demonstrated cultivation of 6,615 ornamental plants.

   In 2012:
   

   1. Guided farmers in producing 279 tons of vegetables and fruits.
      
   2. Produced a total of 12,479 bedding plants and pot flowers.
      
   3. Demonstrated soilless cultivation over 245㎡ and assisted Bahrain’s agriculture extension department in raising 550 cucumber plug-seedlings.
      
   4. Guided farmers in raising 2,000 papaya seedlings.
      
   5. Subcultured 437 date palm somatic embryos and plantlets in vitro, and 808 callus tissue specimens in vitro.
      
   6. Subcultured 4,590 Phalaenopsis explants and 1,311 seedlings.
      
   7. Demonstrated cultivation of 6,095 orchids and managed 6,881 ornamental plants.

   In 2013:
   

   1. Assisted farmers in producing 331 tons of fruits and vegetables over 12 hectares.
      
   2. Demonstrated cultivation of fruits and vegetables over 200㎡and soilless cultivation over 70㎡; assisted two farmers in carrying out organic farming activities.
      
   3. Produced a total of 20,450 bedding plants and pot flowers, and 330 pots of chrysanthemum.
      
   4. Regenerated and rooted 130 date palm plantlets from embryogenesis.
      
   5. Induced 379 dormant Phalaenopsis spike buds, subcultured 826 Phalaenopsis explants, subcultured 459 Phalaenopsis seedlings and induced 250 seedlings by rooting.
      
   6. Set up a greenhouse for the purpose of orchid cultivation.
      
   7. Introduced 1,000 orchid plants at different stages of growth for demonstration purposes.

   In 2014:
   

   1. Produced 2,365 vegetable seedlings and 1,250 papaya plantlets; demonstrated a cropping system for the production of food crops over 750㎡; produced 300 tons of fruits and vegetables over 10 hectares.
      
   2. Produced 9,650 bedding plants and pot flowers; assisted four farmers in producing 3 million flowering plants.
      
   3. Held a bedding plant workshop attended by 30 persons.
      
   4. Managed and cultivated 3,785 orchid plants for demonstration purposes; propagated 3,580 ornamental plants and managed 5,860 ornamental plant pots.
      
   5. Held an orchid cultivation workshop attended by 30 persons.
      
   6. Sterilized and initiated three date palm offshoots (two Khunaizi; one Khelas) and transplanted them into an initiation and propagation medium at the laboratory for embryogenesis and organogenesis.
      
   7. Established Phalaenopsis meristem-propagation techniques and initiated six varieties of Phalaenopsis, comprising about 700 dormant spike buds, into tissue culture.
      

   Projected Benefits：

   1. Production of 1,000 tons of fruits and vegetables over 36 hectares is projected to raise 17% yield per unit area.
      
   2. Promotion of orchid cultivation will yield 16,000-26,000 plants; production of orchids through tissue culture will yield 12,000-50,000 seedlings.
      
   3. Assist to establish date palm micro-propagation procedure, with 10,000 seedlings per year produced independently following the transfer of associated tissue culture technologies.
      
   4. Bedding flowers, potted flowers and foliage plants will be used to beautify the grounds of the Ministry of Agriculture or used as gifts.
      
   5. The project will produce 50,000-80,000 bedding plants, 8,000 pots of potted flowers and 6000 foliage plants for Bahrain government decoration, and 400 fruit tree seedlings to be provided to farmers for cultivation, while the establishment of organic, soilless cultivation systems will increase yields of fruits and vegetables, thereby improving food security.
      

   Mission：Taiwan Technical Mission in the Kingdom of Bahrain