Contribution of the College of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez campus to the Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural Research

A research program in tropical/subtropical agriculture is being funded by Special Research Grants (under Public Law 89-106) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Cooperative State Research Service (CSRS). For the U.S. Caribbean Area the program is coordinated and operated by the Caribbean Basin Administrative Group (CBAG). CBAG membership consists of the Directors and/or representatives of each of the Agricultural Experiment Stations of the land-grant universities of Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the Executive Director for the Southern Region of Agricultural Experiment Stations, and representatives for USDA-CSRS and for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Up to the present, 54 CBAG projects in areas of high-priority research have been conducted by staff members of the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Campus, College of Agricultural Sciences. During a span of 14 years, more than $5.4 millions have been invested in Puerto Rico to support research related to land use planning; tissue culture on plantains, bananas and pineapples; biological control of nematodes and insects; development of new value-added shelled bean products; irrigation requirements; virus diseases of taniers and passion fruit; and others. Results, findings and recommendations have been disseminated through publications in local and international journals and oral presentations in annual technical meetings of scientific organizations in the Wes tern Hemisphere, Europe and Asia. In addition, funds have been used to train graduate students and support their M.S. thesis research work based on high-priority research needs in tropical agriculture.