2012 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416): 1. Develop, evaluate, and encourage implementation of economical and environmentally friendly pest management strategies for Hawaii’s agricultural cops, which are all classified as minor crops. 2. Develop new cultivars of flowers, nursery plants and other crops through traditional breeding or genetic modification technologies to enhance their pest resistance, novelty, production and/or quality. 3. Develop and evaluate improvements to quarantine, marketing, and other governmental and industrial practices and policies to strengthen the competitiveness of Hawaii-grown minor crops. 1b.Approach (from AD-416): The project approach is to address the development of economical and environmentally friendly pest management strategies for Hawaii’s crops. Utilize traditional breeding techniques and genetic engineering to develop cultivars, including flowers and nursery plants, that are resistant to pests, or exhibit improved novelty, production or quality. Analyze and evaluate the significance of current policies and practices, and develop changes in strategy or new policies to improve the competitiveness of Hawaii-grown minor crops. 3.Progress Report: One goal of the cooperative agreement is to develop new cultivars of flowers, nursery plants and other crops through traditional breeding or genetic modification technologies to enhance their pest resistance, novelty, production and/or quality. This project contributes directly to objective 4 of the parent project. A total of 17 anthurium lines were propagated in tissue culture and 20 anthurium selections were undergoing field testing with cooperators on the Island of Hawaii. Among the 17 anthurium lines in tissue culture, 15 of them will be used for selection for clonal multiplication and observation prior to the advance testing with cooperators; and 1 accession and 1 named variety will be maintained for germplasm storage and triple indexing. In addition, 7 dendrobium crosses were germinated for cut flower production, potted plant production, breeding for novel flower color or germplasm improvement.