the tradition continues -...
TRANSCRIPT
www.avrdc.org P.O. Box 42, Shanhua, Tainan 74199, Taiwan Phone: (+886) 6 583-7801 Fax: (+886) 6 583-0009
15 October 2010
The tradition continues 29th Regional Training Course completes first module in Thailand Photos by Somkiat Suphantarat
Seven participants hailing from
Burkina Faso, Swaziland, Gambia,
Brunei, the Philippines, and the
United Kingdom recently
completed the first module of
AVRDC – The World Vegetable
Center’s annual international
training course on vegetable
production, postharvest,
marketing, and consumption
issues offered through the
Center’s Regional Office for
East and Southeast Asia in
Bangkok, Thailand.
Now in its 29th year, the Regional
Training Course entitled
Vegetables: From Seed to Table
and Beyond aims to improve the
knowledge and management skills
of researchers, extensionists, and
policymakers from national and
Victory for vegetables: The
Regional Center for Africa once
again claims first prize in
technology development during
the annual Nane Nane
Agricultural Show in Tanzania.
Page 11
Top: Hands-on practice in grafting
Left: Taking a closer look at plant pathogens during a laboratory session
Dry in Africa: Locally
manufactured seed
dryers improve seed
processing operations
at RCA.
Page 10
2
international agricultural research
institutes, universities, and
nongovernmental organizations
through three separate but
interrelated one-month modules.
The modules emphasize hands-on
experience in the field and
laboratory.
Module I: From Seed to Harvest,
began on 20 September and
wrapped up on 15 October. The
module focused on the essentials of
integrated vegetable production
within the framework of Good
Agricultural Practices (GAP), and
featured an introduction to plant
breeding, an overview on how to
facilitate and manage farmer
education programs, and
instruction in seed production.
The laboratory and field sessions on
vegetable diseases and
investigation of integrated pest
management strategies encouraged
students to explore different
solutions and options for sound
farm management. Field visits to
GAP-certified farms such as the
River Kwai International Food
Industry Co. Ltd. (RKI) at
Kanchanaburi province and
Wasana Farm at Ayutthaya
province, Thailand gave students a
view of market opportunities.
Wasana Farm supplies melons to
Top: Narinder Dhillion, cucurbit breeder
Right: Participants with Regional Director
Robert Holmer (center, beige jacket) and the
East and Southeast Asia Regional Office
team
local retail outlets in Thailand and
RKI exports fresh and processed
tropical fruits and vegetables to
supermarkets in the US, Europe
and high-end vegetable markets in
Asia.
In a session on statistical analysis
for agricultural research and
development, participants learned
methods for accurate data
collection and interpretation. A
special seminar on “Seed Health
Testing” featured lab practice to
identify seed-borne diseases for
seed quarantine, production, and
storage purposes.
Module II: From Harvest to Table,
begins on Monday, 18 October,
with seven additional participants
from the Philippines, Myanmar,
Brunei, and India.
3
Comments from 29th RTC Module I participants
“The topics in Module I are excellent and focus on the
realities of achieving sustainable (quality) vegetable
production.” -- Dembo Dibba, Assistant Agricultural
Officer, Department of Agricultural Services, Bakau,
Gambia
“The practical knowledge and skills I gained from joining
the course, especially on seed health testing, biological
control and on the diseases of vegetables will be very
useful for me in guiding the farmers under my supervision
in the Philippines.” -- Marcela Aggarao, Allotment Garden
Coordinator, Cagayan de Oro, Philippines
The Australian Centre for
International Agricultural Research
(ACIAR)-funded project on
“Integrated Disease Management
(IDM) for anthracnose,
Phytophthora blight, and whitefly-
transmitted geminiviruses in chili
pepper in Indonesia” held a
completion workshop in Magelang,
Central Java from September 28–
October 1. Twenty-four participants
attended, including scientists with
the Indonesian Vegetable Research
Institute (IVEGRI), the Central
Java Assessment Institute for
Agricultural Technologies (AIAT),
Bogor Agricultural University
(IPB), staff from AVRDC
headquarters, and ACIAR
Horticulture Program Manager Les
Baxter. Paul Ferrar, a consultant
formerly with ACIAR, and
Soesamto Somowiuarjo, a
professor and entomologist with
Gadjah Mada University in
Yogjakarta, conducted an external
review of the project.
Two days of technical presentations
were punctuated by a day’s field
trip to two locations in the
Magelang area, where participants
got to observe peppers grown with
a surrounding barrier hedge of
Crotolaria juncea plants. Local
farmers were invited to share their
experience with this strategy to
limit the infection of the pepper
crop by excluding whiteflies.
4 CORNUCOPIA
Chili project holds completion workshop in Indonesia
Top: Workshop
participants; researchers
visit the experimental
variety evaluation trial
field
Left: Experimental
variety evaluation trial
field
Right (l to r): Farmers
managing variety trial,
Paul Gniffke (blue polo-
shirt), Madhusudan
Bhattarai, and Anna
Dibiyantoro, Project Site
Coordinator
5 CORNUCOPIA
Wijayanti, director of the
Magelang District Agriculture
extension office who actively
assisted the project in testing and
refining this technology, led the
discussion. The group visited a
variety trial evaluating 12 AVRDC
lines for resistance to endemic
diseases in the area. Unfortunately,
the planting was a bit too young to
display symptoms of anthracnose,
which regularly damages as much
as one half of the harvested crop.
One particularly promising line,
bred at AVRDC for resistance to
anthracnose, was
also found to
display resistance to
geminivirus, and
will be submitted by
IVEGRI for further
multiplication and
official registration
and release.
Presenters
discussed the
socioeconomic
context of chili
production, the background of the
virus and its associated whitefly
vector, characterization of the
fungal pathotypes found, and the
search for useful sources of
resistance. The use of crop barriers,
for instance, started with studies
using nylon mesh screens, and then
maize or yard-long bean, before
concluding with Crotolaria, which
has been very well received by
farmers and documented to be
economically beneficial in most
circumstances. Ferrar
complemented the project
members for tackling a complex
problem with imagination, and
generating real progress. Project
manager Paul Gniffke expressed
appreciation for the contributions
of all project members, who
sometimes pursued their studies
with limited funding, delays in
material and other hurdles. He
particularly thanked Anna
Dibiyantoro for her conscientious
and diligent attention to the
multifaceted project, and for
seeking out publications,
conferences, press releases, and
other avenues to publicize the work.
Les Baxter expressed his
satisfaction with the “systems”
thinking adopted by project
participants; although loose
threads remain, he appreciated the
progress to date. He also expressed
continuing interest in AVRDC’s
participation in ACIAR-funded
projects, including one currently
being developed by the Queensland
DPI to address the rice-pepper-
shallot cropping system found in
North Central Java.
Paul Gniffke, Pepper Breeder [email protected]
i
Chili IDM in the news
Top: Suara Merdeka newspaper
Left: Wawasan newspaper
Adding value in Japan
6 CORNUCOPIA
Ray-Yu Yang, AVRDC
nutritionist, and Robert J.
Holmer, director, Regional Office
for East and Southeast Asia,
presented papers on “Vegetables:
phytonutrients, health benefits, and
value addition” and “Effect of
selected cultivation practices on
antioxidant properties of different
Southeast Asian indigenous
vegetables,” respectively, during
the international research
workshop Value addition to Asian
Agricultural Products, organized
by the Japan International
Research Center for Agricultural
Sciences (JIRCAS) from 31 August–
1 September 2010 in Tsukuba,
Japan. Other participants hailed
from China Agricultural University
(Beijing), Kasetsart University
(Bangkok), and Cần Tho University
(Cần Tho, Vietnam).
In Tokyo, Drs. Yang and Holmer
met with Joselito C. Bernardo,
director of the Agriculture
Department of the Asian
Productivity Organization (APO).
APO’s mission is to contribute to
the socioeconomic development of
Asia and the Pacific by assisting
member countries to improve
agricultural productivity and
enhance the competitiveness of
agribusiness and food-processing
industries. Opportunities for closer
collaboration were explored during
the meeting.
Notes on global nourishment
Edible pods of the Moringa tree (also known as the “supermarket on a trunk”). This valuable tree will be highlighted in the State of the World 2011 (photo: Bernard Pollack).
In January 2011, blogger Danielle Nierenberg and her colleagues at the
Worldwatch Institute will release State of the World 2011: Innovations
that Nourish the Planet, a book compiling reports from 200 projects in 25
countries across sub-Saharan Africa. AVRDC – The World Vegetable
Center’s work in Mali will be featured in a chapter on “Transforming
Vegetables into Products.”
You can follow report updates and progress at:
http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/
Condolences
7 CORNUCOPIA
Update: AVRDC breeding lines
The Indian Institute of Vegetable
Research (IIVR), Varanasi, has
developed a special type of chili
whose natural color is being used in
lipstick and other cosmetic items.
Based on breeding line PBC-535
from AVRDC – The World
Vegetable Center, the new chili
named ‘IVPBC 535’ or ‘Paprika’ has
a deep, rich red color, but lacks the
piquant punch of hot chili pepper.
Partners from the Fruit and
Vegetable Research Institute,
Vietnam report that six promising
vegetable soybean varieties
(AGS333, AGS356, AGS358,
AGS380, AGS398AGS399 and
AGS399) selected from 18 AVRDC
– The World Vegetable Center
accessions were trialed from 2006-
2009 for growth ability and yield in
Gia Lam, Hanoi. AGS398 was the
most promising variety; it was
highly resistant to pests and
diseases under open-field
conditions and produced the
highest pod number per plant and
highest 100-seed weight of the six
varieties observed. In addition,
AGS398 had shorter growth
duration, more uniform pods, a
compact plant shape, and good
quality seed.
AVRDC’s improved mungbean
lines continue to benefit farmers
across Asia. In the Fatehpur district
of Uttar Pradesh, India, farmers’
incomes rose by RS 42,000–
148,000 when they planted short-
duration mungbean varieties
‘Meha’ and ‘Samrat’ developed by
the Indian Institute of Pulses
Research based on AVRDC
breeding lines. The good results
have encouraged more farmers to
add summer mungbean to their
rice-wheat cropping systems, with
nearly 150 hectares of summer
mungbean now being cultivated in
12 villages in the district.
AVRDC – The
World
Vegetable
Center lost a
good friend
when Linda
Norgrove, 36,
a Scottish aid
worker taken
hostage two weeks ago by the
Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, was
killed by her captors. Linda was
regional director of a jobs program
financed by the United States
Agency for International
Development for Afghanistan’s
eastern region. Over the past two
years, she encouraged several
Afghans to attend AVRDC’s
Regional Training Course in
Thailand (see lead story), including
Tawrat Jamil, a vegetable
production coordinator who was
shot by rebels in eastern
Afghanistan in April 2010. Linda
was deeply committed to helping
people in poor areas of the world,
and had spent years in Peru and
Laos as well as in Afghanistan. We
extend our condolences and
sympathies to Linda’s family and
friends.
Red – but not hot! Edamame for Vietnam Mungbean on the move
in India
Tropentag 2010 takes on the world food system
Tropentag, an annual
international conference on tropical
and subtropical agricultural
research, took place from 14-16
September 2010 in Zurich,
Switzerland. This year’s Tropentag
was organized by ETH Zurich and
the Council for Tropical and
Subtropical Research and
sponsored in part by German
Technical Cooperation (GTZ).
Under the theme “The World Food
System - a contribution from
Europe” the conference featured
130 oral presentations in 24
sessions, three guided poster
sessions, and 500 accepted
abstracts covering food security and
food quality, natural resource
management, climate change,
biodiversity, plant systems, animal
sciences, and markets and rural
development. Students,
postdoctoral fellows, professors,
researchers, and development
experts came together to discuss
issues and build platforms for an
intensive exchange of ideas and
research for development. Awards
for outstanding young agricultural
scientists were given, of which three
were in the field of vegetable
production.
AVRDC – The World Vegetable
Center was represented by
Theresa Endres, who presented a
poster on “Mali’s Vegetable Food
System: Constraints and
Opportunities” and Simone
Kathrin Kriesemer, with a
poster on “Is there an Urban
Market for Vegetables from Tribal
Jharkhand, India?”
Tropentag 2011 will be held at the
University of Bonn, Germany, 5-7
October, 2011.
More information:
www.tropentag.de
8 IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Theresa Endres [email protected]
Simone Kathrin Kriesemer [email protected]
i
Live streams of Tropentag 2010
keynote speeches:
http://www.multimedia.ethz.ch/conferences/2010/
tropentag
9 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
DG in East Africa
AVRDC Director General Dyno
Keatinge was in East Africa from
17-24 September 2010 to meet with
donors and partners, participate in
meetings of the Governing Board of
the International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
(ICRISAT), and take stock of the
happenings at AVRDC’s Regional
Center for Africa (RCA).
On 17 September, the DG met with
Pascal C. Sanginga, senior
program specialist for Agriculture &
Environment at the International
Development Research Centre
(IDRC). He was accompanied by
RCA Regional Director Abdou
Tenkouano and Victor Afari-
Sefa, scientist/socioeconomist.
From 18 -24 September, DG
Keatinge was in Arusha, Tanzania
at the Regional Center for Africa.
He enjoyed a welcome
dinner with RCA staff
and representatives of
organizations hosted at
RCA on the 19th. On the
20th, he toured the
infrastructure
improvements at RCA,
including the new
auditorium (under
construction), new
electrical supply with a
larger-capacity
transformer and
underground cables, new
laboratory building and
screen houses, new solar heating
system, anti-intrusion and fire
safety installations, and a drip
irrigation network. That same day,
he met with James Vernon,
program manager of the Tanzania
Agricultural Productivity Program
(TAPP) funded by USAID. AVRDC
is supporting the TAPP, for which
several grant agreements are
expected.
Members of the ICRISAT Board of
Trustees and senior staff visited
RCA on the 21st. Abdou and Dyno
explained the Center’s work in
varietal development and seed
bulking of African vegetables. The
visitors expressed interest in the
range of indigenous vegetable
germplasm available in AVRDC’s
Arusha genebank—the largest
collection in Africa. RCA’s simple
but effective seed drying system
and nutrition promotion activities
with seed kits were also noted
favorably. Dr. Ayyappan, director
general of the Indian Council for
Agricultural Research and vice
chair of the ICRISAT Board, was
particularly interested in the
Center’s legume research, which
the Center hopes to expand
considerably in South Asia due to
the region’s deficit in pulse
production. (…continued next
page)
Both research institutions must
deal with pulse production
constraints; further collaboration
would reinforce AVRDC’s role as
one of the three sponsors (along
with ICRISAT and the International
Center for Agricultural Research in
Dry Areas) of the CLAN (Cereals
and Legumes for Asia Network).
Dyno addressed the ICRISAT Board
Program Committee Meeting and
emphasized the Center’s continued
partnership with ICRISAT in pulse
and vegetable crops research.
On the 23rd, the DG chaired the
celebration of the Nane Nane Prize,
received by the Regional Center for
Africa for the second year in a row
for excellence in technology
development; staff enjoyed a
special cake made from pumpkin
(one of AVRDC’s mandate crops).
Before departing Arusha on the
24th, Dyno made a courtesy call to
Silvester Samali, director of the
Horticultural Research and
Training Institute (HORTI-
Tengeru), a strong partner of the
Center. Evidence of the close
collaboration between the two
institutions was the 2010 National
Award for Research in Science and
Technology that HORTI-Tengeru
received for “Inventing New
Tomato Varieties: ‘Tengeru 97,’
‘Tanya,’ ‘Meru’ and ‘Kiboko’”, which
are AVRDC lines.
10 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
(L to r): Abdou Tenkouano, Dyno Keatinge, Silvester Samali, and Victor Afari-Sefa
Silvester Samali with award
(… continued from page 9)
Saving seed for later use or longer-
term storage requires the removal
of most, but not all, of the moisture
present in the seed. Careful drying
of seed slows the rate of
deterioration, helps more seed
remain viable, and can prevent the
growth of fungus or production of
toxins. To improve seed processing
operations at AVRDC’s Regional
Center for Africa (RCA) in
Tanzania, two seed dryers were
constructed by a local carpenter
from plans designed by genetic
resources scientist Marilyn
Belarmino and other RCA staff.
All materials were purchased
locally. The bottom of the drawers
in each dryer are made from nylon
mesh supported at the bottom with
wire mesh.
The dryers
are powered
by small
motors. As
cool air flows
over the seed,
the seed dries
gradually and
thoroughly.
Using the
dryers
prevents
accidental
mixing of
seed, and prevents contamination
and impurities caused by dust, a
common problem when seed is
dried on the ground.
Seed drying in Africa
11 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
An award-winning moment
The Regional Center for Africa
once again claimed first prize in
technology development during the
annual Nane Nane Agricultural
Show held in Tanzania in August
2010. The Nane Nane (“eight-
eight” in Swahili) show dates back
to the 1960s, when the 8th of
August was recognized as a special
celebration day for cotton growers
in western Tanzania. The event
spread to other parts of the country
and in the late ‘80s stakeholders
such as research and government
institutions, NGOs, manufacturers
and suppliers of agricultural inputs
and tools, and food processors were
invited to showcase their
innovations. Nane Nane occurs at
national and zonal levels; RCA
participated in the Northern zone
show. Participants competed for
prizes in extension services,
research, technology, machinery,
inputs, and other services.
RCA showcased the following
technologies: African indigenous
vegetable variety development/
improvement; early/late blight
disease control in tomato by host-
plant resistance as part of an
integrated pest management
strategy; low-input vegetable
cropping systems; home garden
designs; pest control on vegetables
using neem extract; pest control by
pull technology using marigold as a
border plant; pest control by use of
simple net houses; simple portable
drip irrigation systems; improved
African traditional vegetable
recipes and processing techniques;
air drying of leafy vegetables for
postharvest storage; nutritional
profiling of African indigenous
vegetables; simple vegetable seed
extraction and processing
techniques; profiling of Moringa;
re-use of disposable water bottles
for backyard production of
vegetables; nursery technology
(raising clean seedlings in cell
trays); technology transfer through
the use of leaflets, brochures, and
other publications; and simple
phytohormone extract from
Moringa as a foliar fertilizer in
pepper production. Congratulations
to RCA for bringing wider
recognition to the Center’s activities
in Africa!
Top: The Regional Center for Africa team
Center: Abdou Tenkouano and Dyno Keatinge
with the trophy received during the annual Nane
Nane Agricultural Show
Below: RCA staff enjoy a pumpkin cake to
celebrate their victory
A field day for vegetable soybean
India
AVRDC’s Regional Center for South Asia and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research - Research Complex for
Eastern Region (ICAR-RCER), Ranchi, Jharkhand organized a Vegetable Soybean Field Day on 27 September
2010. More than 450 participants, including NGO representatives, staff from the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and 350
farmers from 43 villages from Ranchi and Khunti districts attended. Regional Center for South Asia director M. L.
Chadha and government officials opened the event, in which 13 farmers from various parts of Jharkhand received
awards and certificates for excellent performance in vegetable soybean cultivation using AVRDC technologies.
Left: A farmer receives an award
for vegetable soybean cultivation.
Center: Vegetable soybean variety
‘Swarna Vasundhara’ is a farmer
favorite. It was developed from
AVRDC line GC89009-1-1-2
12 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
Center: learn how to set up a home garden plot
Right: extension officers and trainers discuss the benefits of good nutrition
Home gardening workshop
The Regional Center for
South Asia organized a
training workshop from 29
September–1 October
2010 at the Department of
Vegetable Crops, Punjab
Agricultural University
(PAU), Ludhiana to train
extension officers and
trainers in the basic
concepts of home
gardening. Thirty-five
participants, including 10
research and district
extension officers from
PAU, 7 from Jharkhand,
and 8 extension staff from
the Department of
Agriculture, Bhutan
participated.
Building capacity in Bhutan
Eight extension/technical staff
from Bhutan’s Department of
Agriculture visited India for a
short but information-packed study
trip from 25 September–5 October
2010. The visitors toured AVRDC
home garden project sites in
Jharkhand, where they interacted
with the farmers and visited home
garden plots in Bada Salga village;
participated in the vegetable
soybean field day at ICAR-RCER in
Ranchi; toured the Division of
Vegetable Sciences at the Indian
Agricultural Research Institute,
New Delhi and learned about
the institute’s vegetable R& D
programs; attended AVRDC’s
home gardening training
workshop held at Punjab
Agricultural University,
Ludhiana; and completed
their visit with a
brainstorming session on
home gardening organized at
AVRDC’s Regional Center for
South Asia.
Photos: Visitors from Bhutan meet with
villagers and get a closer look at home
garden plots in Bada Salga village,
Jharkhand. Home garden designs
developed by AVRDC – The World
Vegetable Center can ensure families have
nutritious vegetables year-round.
13 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
