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Welcome to the African Crops News Service
The African Crops
News Service covers current research and developments in improvement of
African crops and seed systems. The service compliments the africancrops.net
website to enhance further the sharing of news and information from projects
supported by The Rockefeller Foundation and those by other
organizations. The service team welcomes short articles and information on
your project and organization, research networks and country for inclusion
in the upcoming issues of the newsletter. Read more on the African Crops
News Service at
http://africancrops.net/News/
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NEWS:
IITA Striga
Resistant Maize Germplasm Announcement
Researchers at
the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have developed
open pollinated varieties, inbred lines and hybrids from improved cycles of
maize germplasm with durable resistance to many populations of Striga
hermonthica. The researchers have identified diverse sources of
resistance to S. hermontica of varying maturity and kernel color and
improved them through recurrent selection under artificial and uniform
infestation. IITA has distributed Striga resistant maize germplasm to
the NARS in and outside of West and Central Africa (WCA). On-farm trials of
Striga-resistant maize varieties and other methods for integrated
control are currently pursued by NARS in many countries of WCA with the
support from a regional maize network (WECAMAN) through funding from USAID,
IFAD and the Korean-funded AU/SAFGRAD project. This year IITA has organized
trials consisting of extra-early-, early-, intermediate- and late-maturing
Striga resistant varieties, inbred lines and hybrids for distribution
to interested NARS, private seed companies and other organizations.
Interested researchers and organizations can forward their trial requests to
IITA. The list of trials and request form are available at
www.africancrops.net/rockefeller/grants/2001/menkir/announcement.htm.
SACRED Africa
Evaluates the Performance of NERICA Rice Varieties in Western Kenya
SACRED-Africa, a
Kenyan NGO, jointly with farmer associations, the Ministry of Agriculture
(MOA) and Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) are evaluating the
adaptability of NERICA rice varieties in Western Kenya. The project has
undertaken seed multiplication as an income generating activity by various
farmer associations. Opportunities for integrating the NERICA rice varieties
into existing farming systems and determining their performance are being
studied through on-farm and on-station trials. The project is being
implemented in 4 districts of Western Kenya. SACRED Africa and KARI Kibos
also provide quality control services for seed production, while local
transportation and seed marketing services are provided through the
community cereal banking system in the area. During the long rains of 2004
grain yields of up 5480 kg/ha were obtained. More information is available
at
www.africancrops.net/rockefeller/grants/2005/mukhwana
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NEW PUBLICATIONS
New Book &
Review: “Standards for Cassava Products and Guidelines for Export”
This is a 93-page
book by Lateef Sanni et al., published by the International Institute
of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria. This book has been reviewed
by Taye Babaleye of IITA and it is recommended to those interested in
commercial cassava production and industrial products. Review comments and
details on how to request for copies are posted at
www.africancrops.net/News/march06/cassavaproducts.htm.
WARDA Annual
Report.
The
Africa Rice Center (WARDA)
has released its annual report for 2004 - 2005. The report can be accessed
at:
www.warda.org/publications/AR2004-05/index.htm
Agricultural
Intellectual Property Rights Policy for South Africa
The South African
Department of Agriculture has published a draft Agricultural Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR) policy. The policy, when enacted, will stimulate
economic growth by integrating the management of agricultural IPR,
encouraging participation of those previously excluded from economic
activity, strengthening innovation through research, and sustainable use and
conservation of agricultural biological resources. Readers are invited to
make comments on the draft policy. The document is available at
http://www.africancrops.net/News/SA-Agricultural-IPR-policy-draft-6-(1).doc.
Send your comments to: Mammone Tang, Information Officer, Department of
Agriculture, Directorate of Genetic Resources Management, Private Bag x 973,
Acadia, Pretoria, South Africa; Tel: +27 12 319 6212, Fax: +27 12 319 6329;
email:
MammoneT@nda.agric.za
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FEATURES
A Forced
Abrupt End to Food Dependency – Implications of High Oil Prices
By: Jonathan
Gressel, Plant Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
This article
analyses the impact of high fuel prices on African agriculture. The author
highlights pathways to realizing improved food security and better returns
for the smallhold African farmer amidst declining agricultural productivity
and worsening international trade regime which does not favor the expansion
of the African agricultural sector. Read the full article and share your
views at
http://www.africancrops.net/News/march06/gressel.htm
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POSTGRADUATE TRAINING
OPPORTUNITIES
African
Network of Scientific and Technological Institutions (ANSTI)
African Network
of Scientific and Technological Institutions, an organ of cooperation that
embraces African institutions engaged in University level training and
research in the fields of science and technology has announced the 2006/2007
Postgraduate Fellowships in support of staff development in ANSTI member
institutions. Limited number of fellowships is available for postgraduate
studies in the 2006/2007 academic session and tenable in ANSTI member
institutions. Application Forms are available from
http://www.ansti.org/fellowships.htm.
The completed fellowship application should reach the ANSTI secretariat by
31 May 2006.
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RESEARCH GRANTS
International
Foundation for Science Announces Call for Research Grants
The call for
Research Grants for the International Foundation for Science is now open.
Applications are welcome from young scientists in developing countries to do
research on the sustainable management, use, or conservation of biological
or water resources. This broad statement covers natural and social science
research on agriculture, soils, animal production, food science, forestry,
agroforestry, aquatic resources, natural products, water resources, etc.
Applications are accepted all year and are to be made on an IFS Application
Form. For more information, including eligibility and application, please
visit the IFS website at:
http://www.ifs.se/
Special Call
for Research Group Applications from Sub-Saharan Africa
The International
Foundation for Science (IFS), in collaboration with CODESRIA, calls for
applications for research grants from research groups in Sub-Saharan African
countries working on the role of under-utilized traditional food crops in
African agriculture, or on biotechnology and food in Africa. Research groups
should be interdisciplinary and composed of both social and natural
scientists. The deadline for the applications will be 31st May, 2006.
For
details, visit:
http://www.ifs.se/Programme/ifs_codesria_2006.asp
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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
Subprogramme 3
Leader and Product Manager.
The Generation
Challenge Program is seeking a qualified individual to occupy the position
of Leader for Subprogramme 3: Trait Capture for Crop Improvement. Candidates
with the following qualifications are sought:
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Ph.D. in plant
genetics, plant breeding and/or molecular biology
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Experience in
scientific leadership and capacity to coordinate and manage a broad set of
research projects
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Practical
experience in modern plant breeding technologies (crop phenotyping,
genotyping and molecular breeding)
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Demonstrated
ability in optimization of marker-assisted selection pipelines and
development of novel plant breeding approaches
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Knowledge of
plant phenotyping and physiology under water-limited environments
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Affinity for
international agricultural research and development
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Ability to work
well as part of multidisciplinary and decentralized teams
The deadline for
applications is April 03, 2006. For more details, visit:
http://www.generationcp.org/latestnews/SP3_leader_announcement.pdf
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TRAINING COURSE
Holistic Foundations for Assessment and Regulation of Genetic Engineering
and Genetically Modified Organisms.
The Norwegian
Institute of Gene Ecology (GenØk) will hold a course on “Holistic
Foundations for Assessment and Regulation of Genetic Engineering and GMOs”
from July 31 to August 11, 2006 at the University of Tromsø in Norway. The
course is designed to provide high-level policy makers, regulators,
scientists, and NGOs/civil society from developing countries with knowledge
and training in crucial genetically modified organism (GMO) issues. Forty
sponsorships are available to participants from Official Development
Assistance countries. The application deadline is April 1. More information
is available online at the link below.
http://www.genok.org/english/lesartikkel.asp?article_id=1322&id2=gIyHBx8I58gm4YNzAkFMXhPtG
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UPCOMING CONFERENCES
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Africa Rice Congress, 31 July - 4 August 2006, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
http://www.warda.org/africa-rice-congress/rationale.html.
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The Fifth National IPM Symposium, "Delivering on a Promise," will be held
in St. Louis, MO on April 4-6, 2006 at the Adams Mark Hotel. Symposium
sessions will address state of the art strategies and technologies to
successfully solve pest problems in agricultural, recreational, natural
and community settings.
http://www.ipmcenters.org/IPMSymposiumV/
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Breeding for
Success: Diversity in Action Conference, 18-21 April 2006, Christchurch,
New Zealand.
http://events.lincoln.ac.nz/apbc/
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Plant Tissue
Culture Workshop , Luzerne County Community College (Room 440 &
440A, Science Building), May 17 2006, 1333 South Prospect Street,
Nanticoke, PA 18634-3899. USA.
http://www.biotechinstitute.org/events/egroup_detail.php?group_id=85
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International
Association of Agricultural Information Specialists (IAALD)
will hold its First IAALD Africa Chapter Conference, from 21-26 May 2006
at
Hotel
Intercontinental Nairobi. The conference theme will be:
Managing Agricultural Information for Sustainable Food Security and
Improved Livelihoods in Africa.
http://www.asareca.org/iaald-africa/iaald_en.html.
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International
Association for Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology (IAPTC&B), August
13-18, 2006, Beijing
International Convention Center (BICC), Beijing China.
http://www.genetics.ac.cn/IAPTCB.htm
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The Tropical
Crop Biotechnology Conference 2006, 16-19 August at the
Cairns
International Hotel, Far North Queensland city of Cairns,
Australia.
http://www.tcbc2006.com.au/conference.html
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International
Plant Breeding Symposium (IPBS) to be held in Hotel Sheraton Centro
Histórico Mexico City from 20 - 25 August, 2006.
http://www.intlplantbreeding.com.
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The fifth Plant
Genomics European Meeting (Plant GEMs 5) will take place in Venice, Italy,
at the Russott hotel (San Giuliano, Venice), from October 11 - 14, 2006.
http://www.distagenomics.unibo.it/plantgems/
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First
International meeting on Cassava Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, 11-15
November 2006, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil.
http://www.geneconserve.pro.br/meeting/
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Ninth Arab Congress of Plant Protection, 19-23 November, 2006, Congress
Palace (Ebla Cham hotel), Damascus, Syria.
http://www.9acpp-sy.org/
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Novel and
Sustainable Weed Management in Arid and Semi-Arid Agro-Ecosystems.
Organized by The Weed Science Society of Israel, The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem and the Agricultural Research Organization. Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality
Sciences, Rehovot, Israel, 15 - 21 October 2006. For more information,
contact the Organizing Committee by email:
wgarid@agri.huji.ac.il
or visit the conference website:
http://agri3.huji.ac.il/aridconference.
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The Plant Cell: March 2006; Volume 18, Issue 3. View Table of Contents and abstracts at:
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African
Journal of Biotechnology.
2 February 2006; Vol 5(3): View Table of Contents, abstracts and full text
articles at:
http://www.academicjournals.org/AJB/contents/2006cont/2Feb.htm
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Electronic Journal of Biotechnology:
January, 2006 issue, “Moving from science to development”. View Table of
Contents, abstracts and
full text articles at
http://www.ejbiotechnology.info/content/vol9/issue1/index.html#issues
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African Journals
Online (AJOL).
Did you know that you can access or order full text articles in 230
scientific journals through the African Journals Online website? AJOL is a
database of African-published journals that gives
greater visibility to
the participating journals, and to the research they convey. African
Journals Online (AJOL) providing access to African published research.
http://www.ajol.org
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Science Direct. Read Volume 25 of the Science Direct journal covering January to April 2006.
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TECHNOLOGY TIPS: IMAGE
PROCESSING
Prepared by Musa N. Omare and Jeffers Miruka, Africancrops.net
There are three
common scenarios computer users face while processing images. The scenarios
could be independent of each other but sometimes occur within the same
document or presentation. Read along and if you have any problem email us
on:
africancrops@wananchi.com; or
call on 254 20 6752866 or 254 725 297006 or 254 722 831531. Click on the
following link for the full guide.
http://www.africancrops.net/News/march06/technologytips.htm
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A Call for
Articles, April 2006 Issue
We invite
articles, announcements and other information for the next issue of AFRICAN
CROPS NEWS SERVICE that comes out in the third week of April 2006. To see
previous newsletters, go to:
http://www.africancrops.net/news
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inquiries, information and suggestions about AFRICAN CROPS NEWS SERVICE to:
The Manager
Africancrops.net
C/o FORMAT
P.O. Box
79 Village Market 00621
Nairobi, Kenya
Email:
africancrops@wananchi.com
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