The ACIAR Coconut Improvement project is now in its third year. Research conducted in both Papua New Guinea and Australia have yielded important progress in the field of embryo  culture  and promising  initial results with somatic embryogenesis. Embryo culture techniques have been to  collect germplasm  from  throughout the Pacific  region. Efforts  in embryo culture  have concentrated  on explantin g  methods, transporta tion  systems, refinement of vitro development, and acclimatization methods. Embryogenic callus lines have been established from juvenile leaf tissue and immature inflorescences. Initial results have been encouraging and rapid progress is hoped to occur in the future ; possibly through  collaborative  research.