It is now possible to produce the disease-resistant abaca "Agbayanon" variety without using tissue culture.

The other method that can be used is clonal propagation wherein the new plants are produced outside the laboratory by using corm, according to tissue culture expert Michael Ibisate, who is also the research coordinator of the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Environmental Sciences of the Aklan State University (ASU) in Banga, Aklan,

Corm is the rounded underground storage organ of abaca consisting of swollen stem base.
To start with, the corm from a disease-free plant is cut into pieces and then planted horizontally on the ground with bud on the surface. Ibisate said that he utilized the corms from the tissue-culture-grown abaca in the ASU germplasm.

He said that given proper care, the new suckers would grow in just a month from planting. Two months later, the plantlets will be ready for field planting.

He said that ASU has been mass-producing disease-free abaca for many years now through tissue culture. Recently, Ibisate experimented on clonal propagation which also produced good results.

Ibisate revealed that as of now, they have already produced close to 500 clones of ready-to-plant Agbayanon abaca which is sold at P25 per plant. Agbayanon variety is abundant in Aklan and is resistant to the dreaded abaca bunchy top virus which is ravaging the abaca plantations in Bicol and Leyte provinces.

Early this year, ASU received a P400,000 grant from the Aklan provincial government as part of its project on the expansion of abaca production in Aklan in collaboration with various agencies in the province.

The amount will be spent on research and development on abaca, especially on the tissue culture technology in which ASU has state-of-the-art facilities. Fund was also allotted for the overall abaca development project, and in the near future, for abaca pulp production.

Aklan is the biggest abaca producer in Western Visayas, supplying at least 75 to 80% in bulk. Fiber Industry Development Authority said that Aklan’s abaca fiber production in 2006 had reached 1,220,400 kilograms valued at P48,816,000. This amount is hoped to increase as the province aims to expand abaca areas to 3,355 hectares involving the municipalities of Altavas, Balete, Banga, Ibajay, Madalag, Makato, Malinao, and Libacao.