Bio-deterioration of wood products by micro-organisms and insects is a major problem. The current trend in the development of wood preservatives is to use biocide combinations which include both inorganic-organic and organic-organic binary mixtures.
Salamah S. and Salmiah U.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong 52109, Selangor, Malaysia
Email: salamahs@frim.gov.my
New developments in wood preservation have been mainly in the area of new preservatives. The selection of wood preservatives, formulations, and treatment methods are dependent on the product and type of protection required. Dipping or spraying is for temporary or short-term protection and pressure processes are for longer term protection.
Bio-deterioration of wood products by micro-organisms and insects is a major problem inducing commercial wood preservative formulations to contain chemicals toxic to micro-organisms and insects. In order to be commercially viable wood preservatives, chemical formulations should be cost effective, have good permanence in the wood, no significant effect on the strength properties of wood, low corrosivity to metal fasteners, good penetration properties and safe to handle and use.
Three types of wood preservative are available globally; oil-, water- and light organic solvent-based preservatives with water-based preservatives as the most popular world wide. Copper-chrome-arsenate (CCA), a water based preservative is the most important wood preservative and widely used for timber in construction work and outdoor application including some light organic solvent based preservatives followed by boron based compound for indoor application.
The current trend in the development of wood preservatives is to use biocide combinations which include both inorganic-organic and organic-organic binary mixtures. Another approach to wood preservation is by the chemical modification method. Existing Malaysian Standards have been revised lately to comply with the latest requirements of the timber based industries and government regulations which include the new treatment process, product specification, preservative formulation and quality control. These standards are being coordinated by the Malaysian Wood Preserving Association as Standard Writing Organization for wood preservation.
This research was presented at the CFFPR 2007 Meeting. For more information on FRIM and the CFFPR Meeting, please contact Dr Mohd. Nor Mohd. Yusoff, Senior Director, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Email: mdnor@frim.gov.my
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Using Biotechnology in tropical forests for wealth generation
This paper highlights the research into developing conservation strategies, curbing illegal logging through forensic forestry, developing forest conservation strategies using molecular marker technology, molecular breeding to advance the breeding of specific traits, in vitro conservation of plant species and new drug discovery programs.
Krisnapillay B., Marzalina M. and Razak M.A.A.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, 52109 Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-62797806
Email: baskaran@frim.gov.my
Biotechnology R&D in FRIM has grown gradually over the past 22 years from basic seed technology, tissue culture and isoenzyme studies to cryopreservaton, genetic engineering, DNA marker technology, population genetics, protein and small active molecular compounds that have potential for new drug development. To ensure the research being done is current and in par with those in the developed world, FRIM’s has made significant investments into purchasing state of the art equipment for its laboratories and in training the appropriate manpower for such research. Incidentally, in the 9th Malaysian Plan (period from 2006-2010) the Government too has identified Biotechnology as a new thrust area and a new source of wealth creation for the nation. Indirectly FRIM’s investment and manpower development prior to the 9th Plan apparently has augured well with the Government’s aspiration to tap the natural resources in a sustainable way to generate new wealth using the modern tools of Biotechnology. The mission of the Biotechnology program also seeks to develop cross-cutting research over all the programs in the Institute and also to offer such services to other agencies, through the utilization of these modern tools. This paper highlights some of the strategies, research and findings that have been utilized into producing improved quality planting materials developing conservation strategies, curbing illegal logging through forensic forestry, developing forest conservation strategies using molecular marker technology, molecular breeding to advance the breeding of specific traits, in vitro conservation of plant species and new drug discovery programs.
This research was presented at the CFFPR 2007 Meeting. For more information on FRIM and the CFFPR Meeting, please contact Dr Mohd. Nor Mohd. Yusoff, Senior Director, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Email: mdnor@frim.gov.my
Krisnapillay B., Marzalina M. and Razak M.A.A.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, 52109 Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-62797806
Email: baskaran@frim.gov.my
Biotechnology R&D in FRIM has grown gradually over the past 22 years from basic seed technology, tissue culture and isoenzyme studies to cryopreservaton, genetic engineering, DNA marker technology, population genetics, protein and small active molecular compounds that have potential for new drug development. To ensure the research being done is current and in par with those in the developed world, FRIM’s has made significant investments into purchasing state of the art equipment for its laboratories and in training the appropriate manpower for such research. Incidentally, in the 9th Malaysian Plan (period from 2006-2010) the Government too has identified Biotechnology as a new thrust area and a new source of wealth creation for the nation. Indirectly FRIM’s investment and manpower development prior to the 9th Plan apparently has augured well with the Government’s aspiration to tap the natural resources in a sustainable way to generate new wealth using the modern tools of Biotechnology. The mission of the Biotechnology program also seeks to develop cross-cutting research over all the programs in the Institute and also to offer such services to other agencies, through the utilization of these modern tools. This paper highlights some of the strategies, research and findings that have been utilized into producing improved quality planting materials developing conservation strategies, curbing illegal logging through forensic forestry, developing forest conservation strategies using molecular marker technology, molecular breeding to advance the breeding of specific traits, in vitro conservation of plant species and new drug discovery programs.
This research was presented at the CFFPR 2007 Meeting. For more information on FRIM and the CFFPR Meeting, please contact Dr Mohd. Nor Mohd. Yusoff, Senior Director, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Email: mdnor@frim.gov.my
DNA Marker Technologies for conservation and sustainable forestry in Malaysia
Conservation of these forest genetic resources is the best means to guarantee their availability for the use of present and future generations. Therefore, information on population genetics of forest plant species is essential for the successful implementation of conservation and tree improvement programmes.
DNA MARKER TECHNOLOGIES: IT’S APPLICATION TO THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE UTILISATION OF MALAYSIAN FOREST TREE SPECIES
Norwati M., Lee S. L., Kevin, N. K. S, Lee, C. T., Siti Salwana, H., Ng C. H. and Tnah, L. H.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, 52109 Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-62797144
Fax: 03-62804614
Email: norwati@frim.gov.my
Forestry and forest genetic resources are important to the livelihood of mankind. Genetic diversity of forests is seen not only as a natural reserve but also as a potential resource. Human intervention on the natural forests has put a great pressure on the ecosystems.
Many species of interest have depleted very rapidly from their natural habitat and some suffer potential extinction. Therefore conservation, sustainable use and management of Forest Genetic Resources are crucial for present and future generation.
At FRIM, most of the time genetic materials or germplasm from the forests are used by researchers and breeders for selection to increase a tree's resistance to a disease, improve the quality of its products, or make it more suitable for use in agro forestry.
Conservation of these forest genetic resources is the best means to guarantee their availability for the use of present and future generations. Therefore, information on population genetics of forest plant species is essential for the successful implementation of conservation and tree improvement programmes.
In conservation programmes, this information would be useful in designing sampling strategies for ex situ conservation and sustainable forest management. At the same time such information can be used in tree improvement programmes to provide adequate guidelines in designing sampling strategies, clone identification and tracking desirable genes for early selection in tree improvement programme.
At the Genetic Unit, the issue of conservation of important tropical species is approached through two notable issues, which are a) Genetic diversity evaluation of species based on their status (such as endemism, rare, threatened or endangered etc.) and; b) effect of logging on genetic diversity. For the former, some of the species studied include Aquilaria malaccensis, Dyera costulata, Shorea lumutensis, Hopea bilitonensis, H. subalata, H. odorata, Neobalanocarpus heimii. As for the effect of logging, some of the species studied include Shorea leprosula, S. ovalis, S. curtisii and S. macroptera. For these purposes, Genetic Unit has developed various types of genetic markers such as isozymes, Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPDs) and microsatellite. This paper addresses FRIM research findings from these studies.
This research was presented at the CFFPR 2007 Meeting. For more information on FRIM and the CFFPR Meeting, please contact Dr Mohd. Nor Mohd. Yusoff, Senior Director, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Email: mdnor@frim.gov.my
DNA MARKER TECHNOLOGIES: IT’S APPLICATION TO THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE UTILISATION OF MALAYSIAN FOREST TREE SPECIES
Norwati M., Lee S. L., Kevin, N. K. S, Lee, C. T., Siti Salwana, H., Ng C. H. and Tnah, L. H.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, 52109 Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-62797144
Fax: 03-62804614
Email: norwati@frim.gov.my
Forestry and forest genetic resources are important to the livelihood of mankind. Genetic diversity of forests is seen not only as a natural reserve but also as a potential resource. Human intervention on the natural forests has put a great pressure on the ecosystems.
Many species of interest have depleted very rapidly from their natural habitat and some suffer potential extinction. Therefore conservation, sustainable use and management of Forest Genetic Resources are crucial for present and future generation.
At FRIM, most of the time genetic materials or germplasm from the forests are used by researchers and breeders for selection to increase a tree's resistance to a disease, improve the quality of its products, or make it more suitable for use in agro forestry.
Conservation of these forest genetic resources is the best means to guarantee their availability for the use of present and future generations. Therefore, information on population genetics of forest plant species is essential for the successful implementation of conservation and tree improvement programmes.
In conservation programmes, this information would be useful in designing sampling strategies for ex situ conservation and sustainable forest management. At the same time such information can be used in tree improvement programmes to provide adequate guidelines in designing sampling strategies, clone identification and tracking desirable genes for early selection in tree improvement programme.
At the Genetic Unit, the issue of conservation of important tropical species is approached through two notable issues, which are a) Genetic diversity evaluation of species based on their status (such as endemism, rare, threatened or endangered etc.) and; b) effect of logging on genetic diversity. For the former, some of the species studied include Aquilaria malaccensis, Dyera costulata, Shorea lumutensis, Hopea bilitonensis, H. subalata, H. odorata, Neobalanocarpus heimii. As for the effect of logging, some of the species studied include Shorea leprosula, S. ovalis, S. curtisii and S. macroptera. For these purposes, Genetic Unit has developed various types of genetic markers such as isozymes, Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPDs) and microsatellite. This paper addresses FRIM research findings from these studies.
This research was presented at the CFFPR 2007 Meeting. For more information on FRIM and the CFFPR Meeting, please contact Dr Mohd. Nor Mohd. Yusoff, Senior Director, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Email: mdnor@frim.gov.my
Sunday, November 11, 2007
New hybrid rice group aims to raise rice yields in the tropics
A new international research initiative, linking the private and public sectors for the first time and launched at the 2007 Asian Seed Congress, aims to boost the research and development of hybrid rice for the tropics.
The Hybrid Rice Research and Development Consortium (HRDC), established by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), will strengthen public–private sector partnership in hybrid rice, a technology that can raise the yield of rice and thus overall rice productivity and profitability in Asia.
Hybrid rice takes advantage of the phenomenon of hybrid vigor—known as heterosis—to achieve yields 15–20% higher than nonhybrid (inbred) varieties. Over the past three decades, the technology has helped China achieve food security, but has not yet reached its potential in the tropics.
IRRI and its partners in the public and private sector have led research on development of, and use of, hybrid rice technology in the tropics for almost 30 years. Successful deployment of hybrid rice in Asia, however, requires more effective cooperation between public research institutions and the private sector in research to overcome current constraints.
The HRDC will be hosted by IRRI and will have three major objectives:
* Support research on developing new hybrids with enhanced yield heterosis, improved seed production, multiple resistances to stresses, and grain quality.
* Support research on best management practices for rice hybrids.
* Improve information sharing, public awareness, and capacity building.
Public and private sector organizations and companies with interest in hybrid rice development are invited to become members of the HRDC. For private-sector members, annual financial contributions under the consortium structure will take into account the status of seed companies at different stages of development. HRDC members will have access to improved parents, hybrids, and breeding lines, including seeds and associated information.
The HRDC will have a public–private sector advisory committee and will meet annually to provide information to its members on new plant genetic resources available or under development, review research on hybrid rice management, discuss new research priorities, and make decisions on other consortium activities such as capacity building for both the public and private sectors.
According to IRRI senior hybrid rice researcher Fangming Xie, the HRDC will significantly enhance the capacity for hybrid rice research and product delivery, while providing services and support to the private sector in its product development and delivery that will benefit the general public.
“National agricultural research and extension systems and other public sector organizations engaged in hybrid rice research and development will be among the primary beneficiaries of funds generated by the HRDC”, said Dr. Xie. “Rice farmers in Asia will benefit from accelerated access to hybrid rice-based technologies such as more and better hybrids, good-quality seed, knowledge, and services provided by the private and public sectors.”
Contact for further information:
Dr. Fangming Xie
Senior Scientist, Hybrid Rice Breeding
Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Division
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines
E-mail: f.xie@cgiar.org
Phone: +63-2-580-5600, ext. 2769
Fax: +63-2-580-5699
# # #
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is the world’s leading rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines, with offices in 13 other countries, IRRI is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused on improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of 15 centers funded through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies (www.cgiar.org).
# # #
For information, contact Duncan Macintosh, IRRI, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines;
tel +63-2-580-5600; fax: +63-2-580-5699; email d.macintosh@cgiar.org.
Web sites:
IRRI Home (www.irri.org)
IRRI Library (http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org)
Rice Knowledge Bank (www.knowledgebank.irri.org)
The Hybrid Rice Research and Development Consortium (HRDC), established by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), will strengthen public–private sector partnership in hybrid rice, a technology that can raise the yield of rice and thus overall rice productivity and profitability in Asia.
Hybrid rice takes advantage of the phenomenon of hybrid vigor—known as heterosis—to achieve yields 15–20% higher than nonhybrid (inbred) varieties. Over the past three decades, the technology has helped China achieve food security, but has not yet reached its potential in the tropics.
IRRI and its partners in the public and private sector have led research on development of, and use of, hybrid rice technology in the tropics for almost 30 years. Successful deployment of hybrid rice in Asia, however, requires more effective cooperation between public research institutions and the private sector in research to overcome current constraints.
The HRDC will be hosted by IRRI and will have three major objectives:
* Support research on developing new hybrids with enhanced yield heterosis, improved seed production, multiple resistances to stresses, and grain quality.
* Support research on best management practices for rice hybrids.
* Improve information sharing, public awareness, and capacity building.
Public and private sector organizations and companies with interest in hybrid rice development are invited to become members of the HRDC. For private-sector members, annual financial contributions under the consortium structure will take into account the status of seed companies at different stages of development. HRDC members will have access to improved parents, hybrids, and breeding lines, including seeds and associated information.
The HRDC will have a public–private sector advisory committee and will meet annually to provide information to its members on new plant genetic resources available or under development, review research on hybrid rice management, discuss new research priorities, and make decisions on other consortium activities such as capacity building for both the public and private sectors.
According to IRRI senior hybrid rice researcher Fangming Xie, the HRDC will significantly enhance the capacity for hybrid rice research and product delivery, while providing services and support to the private sector in its product development and delivery that will benefit the general public.
“National agricultural research and extension systems and other public sector organizations engaged in hybrid rice research and development will be among the primary beneficiaries of funds generated by the HRDC”, said Dr. Xie. “Rice farmers in Asia will benefit from accelerated access to hybrid rice-based technologies such as more and better hybrids, good-quality seed, knowledge, and services provided by the private and public sectors.”
Contact for further information:
Dr. Fangming Xie
Senior Scientist, Hybrid Rice Breeding
Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Division
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines
E-mail: f.xie@cgiar.org
Phone: +63-2-580-5600, ext. 2769
Fax: +63-2-580-5699
# # #
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is the world’s leading rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines, with offices in 13 other countries, IRRI is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused on improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of 15 centers funded through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies (www.cgiar.org).
# # #
For information, contact Duncan Macintosh, IRRI, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines;
tel +63-2-580-5600; fax: +63-2-580-5699; email d.macintosh@cgiar.org.
Web sites:
IRRI Home (www.irri.org)
IRRI Library (http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org)
Rice Knowledge Bank (www.knowledgebank.irri.org)
Thursday, November 8, 2007
A low-cost technology boosts farm income in Kazakhstan
A low-cost technology boosts farm income.
ALEPPO, Syria: A low-cost technology developed by scientists at ICARDA to treat high level of magnesium in soil by using calcium has demonstrated the potential to double the crop yield in magnesium-rich soils in Central Asia.
In southern Kazakhstan alone, more than 150,000 hectares of land is affected by high levels of magnesium, which causes soil degradation and seriously reduces crop yield.
Scientists have established that addition of adequate quantities of phosphogypsum (PG), a low-cost source of calcium, in the soil mitigates the effect of excess magnesium and increases crop yield. On-farm trials of the new technology conducted by ICARDA and NARS in Arya Turkestan area of Kazakhstan produced remarkable results
The PG technology has the potential to increase cotton yield to 3 t/ha, while the farmers usually got 1 to 1.5 t/ha without such intervention. The increase in the yield prompted farmers to voluntarily adopt the technology, bearing 30 percent of the cost for transportation and application of PG, a byproduct of phosphorus fertilizer industry easily available in Central Asia.
“I never dreamt of such a bumper crop from this problem soil. Normally, we get only 1-2 tons of cotton per hectare, but now with this simple technology, I can reap an extra ton this year,” says 34-year-old, Abdurashid Koshkarov, a farmer from Stariy Ikan village, 130 km northeast of Shymkent, capital of South Kazakhstan Province. He is one of the 19 progressive growers who voluntarily used PG to improve land productivity in this region, where high magnesium content in the soil crippled crop productivity.
The farm productivity and the profitability have gone up significantly. “I spend about US$ 400 to raise a hectare of irrigated cotton crop in our traditional way, and with PG application it rose to about US$ 540. The returns also increased correspondingly. At the current price of cotton at US$ 475 per ton, the gross income goes up to US$ 1650 per hectare. It meant that with an additional investment of US$ 140, we could get about an extra ton of cotton worth US$ 475 from every hectare,” explained Mr Koshkarov.
Research on the PG technology started in 2001 as part of the Phase 1 and 2 of the ADB-funded Soil and Water project implemented by ICARDA in Central Asia. The technology was out-scaled in 2006 under another ADB-funded project, jointly implemented by ICARDA, IWMI and ICBA, to an area of over 100 ha, says Dr Manzoor Qadir, ICARDA-based Marginal-Water Management Scientist of ICARDA/IWMI, who heads the initiative to out-scale this technology in this region. The Kazakh National Water Management Institute implemented the PG trials in the study area.
More and more farmers in the region are aware of the new technology and are convinced that the yields soared with the application of PG. There is an increased demand for PG in the region, and farmers firmly believe that a “silent green revolution is in store for them”.
Mr Jolaman Dozbayev, a 57-year old cotton farmer in the same village, said: “Until last season, we were in a bad situation. But PG application changed it altogether. The high returns from cotton ushered in a new wave of prosperity in our lives,” he said with a sense of pride.
“Our studies showed that the PG dose per hectare should be based on some simple soil tests, and it works out very economical for the farmers. It is enough if the farmers apply PG once every four to five years,” says Dr Qadir.
Dr Manzoor Qadir (m.qadir@cgiar.org)
ALEPPO, Syria: A low-cost technology developed by scientists at ICARDA to treat high level of magnesium in soil by using calcium has demonstrated the potential to double the crop yield in magnesium-rich soils in Central Asia.
In southern Kazakhstan alone, more than 150,000 hectares of land is affected by high levels of magnesium, which causes soil degradation and seriously reduces crop yield.
Scientists have established that addition of adequate quantities of phosphogypsum (PG), a low-cost source of calcium, in the soil mitigates the effect of excess magnesium and increases crop yield. On-farm trials of the new technology conducted by ICARDA and NARS in Arya Turkestan area of Kazakhstan produced remarkable results
The PG technology has the potential to increase cotton yield to 3 t/ha, while the farmers usually got 1 to 1.5 t/ha without such intervention. The increase in the yield prompted farmers to voluntarily adopt the technology, bearing 30 percent of the cost for transportation and application of PG, a byproduct of phosphorus fertilizer industry easily available in Central Asia.
“I never dreamt of such a bumper crop from this problem soil. Normally, we get only 1-2 tons of cotton per hectare, but now with this simple technology, I can reap an extra ton this year,” says 34-year-old, Abdurashid Koshkarov, a farmer from Stariy Ikan village, 130 km northeast of Shymkent, capital of South Kazakhstan Province. He is one of the 19 progressive growers who voluntarily used PG to improve land productivity in this region, where high magnesium content in the soil crippled crop productivity.
The farm productivity and the profitability have gone up significantly. “I spend about US$ 400 to raise a hectare of irrigated cotton crop in our traditional way, and with PG application it rose to about US$ 540. The returns also increased correspondingly. At the current price of cotton at US$ 475 per ton, the gross income goes up to US$ 1650 per hectare. It meant that with an additional investment of US$ 140, we could get about an extra ton of cotton worth US$ 475 from every hectare,” explained Mr Koshkarov.
Research on the PG technology started in 2001 as part of the Phase 1 and 2 of the ADB-funded Soil and Water project implemented by ICARDA in Central Asia. The technology was out-scaled in 2006 under another ADB-funded project, jointly implemented by ICARDA, IWMI and ICBA, to an area of over 100 ha, says Dr Manzoor Qadir, ICARDA-based Marginal-Water Management Scientist of ICARDA/IWMI, who heads the initiative to out-scale this technology in this region. The Kazakh National Water Management Institute implemented the PG trials in the study area.
More and more farmers in the region are aware of the new technology and are convinced that the yields soared with the application of PG. There is an increased demand for PG in the region, and farmers firmly believe that a “silent green revolution is in store for them”.
Mr Jolaman Dozbayev, a 57-year old cotton farmer in the same village, said: “Until last season, we were in a bad situation. But PG application changed it altogether. The high returns from cotton ushered in a new wave of prosperity in our lives,” he said with a sense of pride.
“Our studies showed that the PG dose per hectare should be based on some simple soil tests, and it works out very economical for the farmers. It is enough if the farmers apply PG once every four to five years,” says Dr Qadir.
Dr Manzoor Qadir (m.qadir@cgiar.org)
Sunday, October 28, 2007
From Green to Evergreen: Updating the Food Revolution
Hunger can be eradicated “in my lifetime,” says the man known as the father of the Green Revolution in India. M.S. Swaminathan speaks about his values, his achievements, and his ambitions.
By Patrick Kavanagh
Hunger can be eradicated “in my lifetime,” says the man known as the father of the Green Revolution in India. M.S. Swaminathan speaks about his values, his achievements, and his ambitions.
According to Time magazine, Professor Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan ranks alongside Mahatma Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, and Corazon Aquino among the 20 most influential Asians of the twentieth century. Few will challenge this opinion.
Born in India’s Tamil Nadu in 1925, Swaminathan earned a PhD in plant genetics from Cambridge University. In the early 1950s he abandoned a promising academic career and returned to his home country to help confront a crisis of overpopulation and food scarcity. Working closely with other scientists in India and around the world, Swaminathan applied the principles of plant breeding — and his formidable powers of persuasion — to launch the astonishing increase in food production that is now known as the Green Revolution.
Instead of suffering the widespread famine that many had been predicting, Indians within a few years learned to grow enough wheat and rice to feed themselves. The techniques of biotechnology pioneered by Swaminathan and his colleagues were adopted by other developing countries, and produced the food security that helped set the stage for the rapid Asian economic growth of later decades.
In India and around the world, Swaminathan has been honoured with many dozens of prestigious awards and prizes. Today he heads, among other organizations, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, a non-profit institute for science and development that he established in Chennai, and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs of which he is president. In 2007, he became a member of the upper house of India’s parliament, the Rajya Sabha.
In July 2007, Professor Swaminathan visited IDRC in Ottawa as a special guest of its speaker series, and talked about his life and work.
Roots and values
Swaminathan credits both his father and Mahatma Gandhi — whom he met in his childhood during India’s independence struggle — with inspiring him toward a life of public service.
His father was a politician and a doctor who believed that “medical knowledge should be taken to the people,” and who once applied this principle by relying on education and “social mobilization” to eradicate the parasitic disease filariasis from an entire town. In his own professional life, Swaminathan has always reinforced the authority of hard science with what he calls “the power of people power” — trusting the local community to find solutions to its problems.
Thus, his decision to enter the field of agriculture was motivated by the philosophy of self-reliance, or swadeshi, pursued by Gandhi’s campaign for Indians to wear homespun cotton rather than imported textiles. Both his development vision and his scientific work were further inspired by Gandhi’s notion of sarvodaya, or the “welfare of all.” Swaminathan explains:
There are no winners and no losers in the sarvodaya society: all are winners in some respect. The same principle applies in plant breeding and animal breeding. When you have a population performance rather than individual performance alone, then you have greater progress.
He follows Gandhi in believing that sarvodaya can be achieved only through antodaya, or the “welfare of the weakest:”
You start with the bottom, the poorest person. You ask yourself: Will what you’re going to do now have any benefit for the poorest person you have seen in your life?
He points out that his Chennai foundation is mandated to take a “pro-nature, pro-poor, and pro-women” approach in its development efforts. And he holds not only that laypersons ought to benefit from the fruits of science, but they should play a significant role in the scientific process itself:
You can develop some new thoughts, new material in the laboratory, but ultimately if you want to be successful in the field you must understand the problems of the people. They have a long experience that I would call wisdom. We may have knowledge — but they have wisdom.
The evergreen revolution and bio-villages
While Swaminathan enjoys the admiration of many, he also has critics. Advocates of organic farming are wary of biotechnology in general. Environmentalists complain about the ecological impact of the Green Revolution, such as its heavy reliance on inputs like pesticides and intrusive irrigation. Other people worry that only rich farmers can afford the high costs of these inputs, and the poor are excluded.
Swaminathan acknowledges these criticisms, and agrees that “we must have both environmentally and socially sustainable advances in productivity — an evergreen revolution.” But how to operationalize an evergreen revolution? His answer is to implement the “bio-village” concept, which links ecological security with small business enterprise at the village level:
Bio-village has two components. One is natural resources conservation and enhancement — of soil fertility, water, flora and fauna, and so on. The other is livelihood security. But too much emphasis on farm employment alone cannot help. How then do you create more non-farm employment and small-scale enterprises?
The two major self-employment sectors in India are small-scale farming and micro retail. Both are brought together in the bio-village, in [business] operations of a small nature, the marketing of products, bio-mass utilization, and so on. The bio-village idea is a simple one: to have sustainable societies where you use the natural resources wisely while creating more opportunities for non-farm employment such as retail.
Swaminathan believes not only that small is beautiful, but that ”marketable is beautiful,” that is, that enterprises should start out at a manageable size and should pay their own way. He says:
It is very easy to have more happiness in the villages by creating small-scale enterprises, because for poor people small things can make a large difference. Many times you can bring happiness to people by meeting some simple requirement. But it must be based on their felt needs. What we think they need is not important. What they think they need is most important.
He is particularly scathing about researchers and extension workers who ask vulnerable communities to take risks with large-scale or inappropriate technologies. If these enterprises should fail, the people are left with no coping capacity. “Don’t experiment with the poor,” he warns. “Don’t bring your ideas and make them suffer more.”
Village knowledge centres
Swaminathan insists that, in order to grow, people need not only nutrition but education too. In the early 1990s he began to receive support from IDRC for a long-term, interdisciplinary effort to bring modern information technology to rural people, to “reach the unreached.” What began as a pilot project has now become a national movement, called Mission 2007, to create “village knowledge centres” throughout India:
Knowledge should be dynamic and demand-driven — not just information. Information is one-sided. That’s why we don’t call it “information kiosk.” Knowledge is interactive, and it must be locally owned, locally managed, and it must be sustainable.
Some people compare these telecentres with the traditional communal wells where local news and gossip are exchanged. But these village knowledge centres have much wider range. They make the most of India’s modern telecommunications links, from satellites to computers to cellphones, and provide rapid and affordable access to the everyday knowledge that communities need, about health, nutrition, agriculture, markets, weather, skills development, literacy training, government services — and on and on. Villagers have taken to this technology “like fish to water.” Swaminathan argues that the knowledge centres have awakened the underused capacity of India’s rural people.
He points out that these centres bridge the digital divide by leapfrogging to new levels of technology, but they also bridge the gender divide by empowering women. He tells a story about a participant in the telecentre movement, an Indian woman never before out of her village, who traveled to Europe but did not feel homesick because “she was in continuous correspondence with her husband by e-mail.”
“Because many women are now running the village knowledge centres,” he chuckles, “men have to go to them to get information.” For example, it is women who, each morning, download forecasts of local weather and wave conditions from the database of the US Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, then broadcast this news by loudspeaker for the benefit of fishers on the beach who are deciding whether to sail. On the Pondicherry coastline during the December 2004 tsunami, this same alarm system warned people away from the seashore and saved many lives.
It can be done
Despite the remarkable achievements of the Green Revolution and of India’s high-tech sector, many people remain poor. According to Unicef, the country is home to the largest number of malnourished children in the world. So it is at that, at age 82, Swaminathan continues the same kind of work that inspired him 60 years ago, at the start of his career. Among his many current roles is chairman of India’s National Commission on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security.
He notes that today food is physically abundant in India; the problem is that the poorest cannot afford to buy it. Part of his solution is for public/private partnerships to provide a large number of low-paying jobs so that more people will have access to at least a basic level of food security. He believes strongly in the power of small, catalytic investments — such as those provided by IDRC. He refers to his own age to emphasize his absolute confidence in the value of such measures:
If you have a coalition of all concerned with the eradication of hunger, I can say it can be done. It can be done. And in my lifetime.
Patrick Kavanagh is a senior writer in IDRC’s Communications Division.
By Patrick Kavanagh
Hunger can be eradicated “in my lifetime,” says the man known as the father of the Green Revolution in India. M.S. Swaminathan speaks about his values, his achievements, and his ambitions.
According to Time magazine, Professor Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan ranks alongside Mahatma Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, and Corazon Aquino among the 20 most influential Asians of the twentieth century. Few will challenge this opinion.
Born in India’s Tamil Nadu in 1925, Swaminathan earned a PhD in plant genetics from Cambridge University. In the early 1950s he abandoned a promising academic career and returned to his home country to help confront a crisis of overpopulation and food scarcity. Working closely with other scientists in India and around the world, Swaminathan applied the principles of plant breeding — and his formidable powers of persuasion — to launch the astonishing increase in food production that is now known as the Green Revolution.
Instead of suffering the widespread famine that many had been predicting, Indians within a few years learned to grow enough wheat and rice to feed themselves. The techniques of biotechnology pioneered by Swaminathan and his colleagues were adopted by other developing countries, and produced the food security that helped set the stage for the rapid Asian economic growth of later decades.
In India and around the world, Swaminathan has been honoured with many dozens of prestigious awards and prizes. Today he heads, among other organizations, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, a non-profit institute for science and development that he established in Chennai, and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs of which he is president. In 2007, he became a member of the upper house of India’s parliament, the Rajya Sabha.
In July 2007, Professor Swaminathan visited IDRC in Ottawa as a special guest of its speaker series, and talked about his life and work.
Roots and values
Swaminathan credits both his father and Mahatma Gandhi — whom he met in his childhood during India’s independence struggle — with inspiring him toward a life of public service.
His father was a politician and a doctor who believed that “medical knowledge should be taken to the people,” and who once applied this principle by relying on education and “social mobilization” to eradicate the parasitic disease filariasis from an entire town. In his own professional life, Swaminathan has always reinforced the authority of hard science with what he calls “the power of people power” — trusting the local community to find solutions to its problems.
Thus, his decision to enter the field of agriculture was motivated by the philosophy of self-reliance, or swadeshi, pursued by Gandhi’s campaign for Indians to wear homespun cotton rather than imported textiles. Both his development vision and his scientific work were further inspired by Gandhi’s notion of sarvodaya, or the “welfare of all.” Swaminathan explains:
There are no winners and no losers in the sarvodaya society: all are winners in some respect. The same principle applies in plant breeding and animal breeding. When you have a population performance rather than individual performance alone, then you have greater progress.
He follows Gandhi in believing that sarvodaya can be achieved only through antodaya, or the “welfare of the weakest:”
You start with the bottom, the poorest person. You ask yourself: Will what you’re going to do now have any benefit for the poorest person you have seen in your life?
He points out that his Chennai foundation is mandated to take a “pro-nature, pro-poor, and pro-women” approach in its development efforts. And he holds not only that laypersons ought to benefit from the fruits of science, but they should play a significant role in the scientific process itself:
You can develop some new thoughts, new material in the laboratory, but ultimately if you want to be successful in the field you must understand the problems of the people. They have a long experience that I would call wisdom. We may have knowledge — but they have wisdom.
The evergreen revolution and bio-villages
While Swaminathan enjoys the admiration of many, he also has critics. Advocates of organic farming are wary of biotechnology in general. Environmentalists complain about the ecological impact of the Green Revolution, such as its heavy reliance on inputs like pesticides and intrusive irrigation. Other people worry that only rich farmers can afford the high costs of these inputs, and the poor are excluded.
Swaminathan acknowledges these criticisms, and agrees that “we must have both environmentally and socially sustainable advances in productivity — an evergreen revolution.” But how to operationalize an evergreen revolution? His answer is to implement the “bio-village” concept, which links ecological security with small business enterprise at the village level:
Bio-village has two components. One is natural resources conservation and enhancement — of soil fertility, water, flora and fauna, and so on. The other is livelihood security. But too much emphasis on farm employment alone cannot help. How then do you create more non-farm employment and small-scale enterprises?
The two major self-employment sectors in India are small-scale farming and micro retail. Both are brought together in the bio-village, in [business] operations of a small nature, the marketing of products, bio-mass utilization, and so on. The bio-village idea is a simple one: to have sustainable societies where you use the natural resources wisely while creating more opportunities for non-farm employment such as retail.
Swaminathan believes not only that small is beautiful, but that ”marketable is beautiful,” that is, that enterprises should start out at a manageable size and should pay their own way. He says:
It is very easy to have more happiness in the villages by creating small-scale enterprises, because for poor people small things can make a large difference. Many times you can bring happiness to people by meeting some simple requirement. But it must be based on their felt needs. What we think they need is not important. What they think they need is most important.
He is particularly scathing about researchers and extension workers who ask vulnerable communities to take risks with large-scale or inappropriate technologies. If these enterprises should fail, the people are left with no coping capacity. “Don’t experiment with the poor,” he warns. “Don’t bring your ideas and make them suffer more.”
Village knowledge centres
Swaminathan insists that, in order to grow, people need not only nutrition but education too. In the early 1990s he began to receive support from IDRC for a long-term, interdisciplinary effort to bring modern information technology to rural people, to “reach the unreached.” What began as a pilot project has now become a national movement, called Mission 2007, to create “village knowledge centres” throughout India:
Knowledge should be dynamic and demand-driven — not just information. Information is one-sided. That’s why we don’t call it “information kiosk.” Knowledge is interactive, and it must be locally owned, locally managed, and it must be sustainable.
Some people compare these telecentres with the traditional communal wells where local news and gossip are exchanged. But these village knowledge centres have much wider range. They make the most of India’s modern telecommunications links, from satellites to computers to cellphones, and provide rapid and affordable access to the everyday knowledge that communities need, about health, nutrition, agriculture, markets, weather, skills development, literacy training, government services — and on and on. Villagers have taken to this technology “like fish to water.” Swaminathan argues that the knowledge centres have awakened the underused capacity of India’s rural people.
He points out that these centres bridge the digital divide by leapfrogging to new levels of technology, but they also bridge the gender divide by empowering women. He tells a story about a participant in the telecentre movement, an Indian woman never before out of her village, who traveled to Europe but did not feel homesick because “she was in continuous correspondence with her husband by e-mail.”
“Because many women are now running the village knowledge centres,” he chuckles, “men have to go to them to get information.” For example, it is women who, each morning, download forecasts of local weather and wave conditions from the database of the US Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, then broadcast this news by loudspeaker for the benefit of fishers on the beach who are deciding whether to sail. On the Pondicherry coastline during the December 2004 tsunami, this same alarm system warned people away from the seashore and saved many lives.
It can be done
Despite the remarkable achievements of the Green Revolution and of India’s high-tech sector, many people remain poor. According to Unicef, the country is home to the largest number of malnourished children in the world. So it is at that, at age 82, Swaminathan continues the same kind of work that inspired him 60 years ago, at the start of his career. Among his many current roles is chairman of India’s National Commission on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security.
He notes that today food is physically abundant in India; the problem is that the poorest cannot afford to buy it. Part of his solution is for public/private partnerships to provide a large number of low-paying jobs so that more people will have access to at least a basic level of food security. He believes strongly in the power of small, catalytic investments — such as those provided by IDRC. He refers to his own age to emphasize his absolute confidence in the value of such measures:
If you have a coalition of all concerned with the eradication of hunger, I can say it can be done. It can be done. And in my lifetime.
Patrick Kavanagh is a senior writer in IDRC’s Communications Division.
Farmers Have Their Say “Where the Water World Meets”
Yongxuan from Guangzhou in southern China told the meeting that pollution-control regulations appeared to be doing little to clean up her country’s severely degraded rivers, while Gerald from Accra pointed out that much of the Ghanaian capital’s wastewater is dumped directly into the ocean.
“If I had the $70 it takes to build the cheapest toilet, I would use it first for school fees, food, clothes, or a bicycle,” Patricia, a farmer from Zimbabwe, told international water experts gathered at a major global forum in Sweden. So why, she continued, did they think she would choose to sink her money first into building a latrine?
Yongxuan from Guangzhou in southern China told the meeting that pollution-control regulations appeared to be doing little to clean up her country’s severely degraded rivers, while Gerald from Accra pointed out that much of the Ghanaian capital’s wastewater is dumped directly into the ocean. “Some say that dilution is the solution to pollution,” he observed. “But what do you think about this?”
Philip from Kumasi, Ghana’s second-largest city, wanted to know why only six or seven of the country’s 44 wastewater treatment plants — mostly those serving hotels — actually work. Lydia from Abidjan said that even when wastewater treatment plants do function in Côte d’Ivoire, they can meet only a small part of the need. “What does it take to give complete coverage?” she asked. “Will I still be alive to see it?”
Joseph from Nairobi said municipal officials want him to stop growing the vegetables on which his livelihood depends because the stream he uses for irrigation is dirty. He was thousands of kilometres away from the international water experts he was addressing, but he could hardly have been more direct: “What should I do and what are you doing to help us? The bad water is not my fault.”
These statements were all contained in a short video shown to 50 delegates who attended a workshop co-hosted by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) at the 17th annual World Water Week, “Progress and Prospects on Water: Striving for Sustainability in a Changing World.” More than 2 400 participants from 140 countries attended the August gathering in Stockholm of water and sanitation professionals from around the world.
In most cities in the developing world, urbanization has outpaced sanitation, with myriad consequences for human and environmental health. At the conference in Stockholm (“Where the Water World Meets”), IDRC and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) organized a workshop on pollution management in urban watersheds in developing countries — with a creative twist. Panellists were asked to answer questions posed by farmers in Africa and Asia, who had been videotaped in the weeks running up to the meeting.
To keep the panellists on their toes, members of the audience were asked to judge the strength of the responses, raising yellow or red cards to signal agreement or disagreement. If they showed a panellist the red card, audience members were encouraged to provide alternative answers themselves.
The questions submitted via videotape by the farmers facing tough realities on the ground testified to the fact that the poor themselves are a key part of the solution, IDRC Program Officer and Stockholm panellist Mark Redwood pointed out.
“Slums are often seen as depressing and grim places,” he said. “Let’s not forget that they are also places where creativity leads to informal but effective responses to providing various urban services. Many of the small-scale entrepreneurial activities, such as community water distribution and the reuse of domestic wastes to enhance food production, demonstrate an inventive streak that can be harnessed.”
Panellist Albert Wright, a leading authority on water and sanitation, sought to dispel another common misconception. Responding to the comment about spending priorities made by Patricia from Zimbabwe, Wright observed that low-income households might lack liquid assets but still possess a stake in things of value. “It’s not that the poor don’t have money,” he said, “it’s just that their money is busy.”
IWMI’s Africa regional director, Akissa Bahri, stressed the need to consider together the linked issues of sanitation and livelihoods. Industrial and domestic waste, for example, ends up in water and soil that farmers use.
Henk de Zeeuw, coordinator of the international network, Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Forestry (RUAF), sympathized with the plight of farmers such as Joseph in Nairobi. “Rendering the use of polluted water illegal is common,” he said, “but it has made no impact on improving the lives of the poor, who often depend on that water for food production.”
IDRC partners in the field will convey the Swedish end of the interactive discussion back to the farmers who had their say at this year’s World Water Week.
“So many panels are relatively conventional formats with lots of presentations and tough-to-read slides,” said Redwood, who works with IDRC’s Urban Poverty and Environment program. “But with our partner IWMI’s strong field presence and links with many urban farmers, we were able to bring the voice of farmers to Stockholm.”
A final question from the audience validated the innovative approach: “The panel format was good because it got farmers involved. Would you mind if we copied it?”
Kelly Haggart is a senior writer with IDRC’s Communications Division.
“If I had the $70 it takes to build the cheapest toilet, I would use it first for school fees, food, clothes, or a bicycle,” Patricia, a farmer from Zimbabwe, told international water experts gathered at a major global forum in Sweden. So why, she continued, did they think she would choose to sink her money first into building a latrine?
Yongxuan from Guangzhou in southern China told the meeting that pollution-control regulations appeared to be doing little to clean up her country’s severely degraded rivers, while Gerald from Accra pointed out that much of the Ghanaian capital’s wastewater is dumped directly into the ocean. “Some say that dilution is the solution to pollution,” he observed. “But what do you think about this?”
Philip from Kumasi, Ghana’s second-largest city, wanted to know why only six or seven of the country’s 44 wastewater treatment plants — mostly those serving hotels — actually work. Lydia from Abidjan said that even when wastewater treatment plants do function in Côte d’Ivoire, they can meet only a small part of the need. “What does it take to give complete coverage?” she asked. “Will I still be alive to see it?”
Joseph from Nairobi said municipal officials want him to stop growing the vegetables on which his livelihood depends because the stream he uses for irrigation is dirty. He was thousands of kilometres away from the international water experts he was addressing, but he could hardly have been more direct: “What should I do and what are you doing to help us? The bad water is not my fault.”
These statements were all contained in a short video shown to 50 delegates who attended a workshop co-hosted by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) at the 17th annual World Water Week, “Progress and Prospects on Water: Striving for Sustainability in a Changing World.” More than 2 400 participants from 140 countries attended the August gathering in Stockholm of water and sanitation professionals from around the world.
In most cities in the developing world, urbanization has outpaced sanitation, with myriad consequences for human and environmental health. At the conference in Stockholm (“Where the Water World Meets”), IDRC and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) organized a workshop on pollution management in urban watersheds in developing countries — with a creative twist. Panellists were asked to answer questions posed by farmers in Africa and Asia, who had been videotaped in the weeks running up to the meeting.
To keep the panellists on their toes, members of the audience were asked to judge the strength of the responses, raising yellow or red cards to signal agreement or disagreement. If they showed a panellist the red card, audience members were encouraged to provide alternative answers themselves.
The questions submitted via videotape by the farmers facing tough realities on the ground testified to the fact that the poor themselves are a key part of the solution, IDRC Program Officer and Stockholm panellist Mark Redwood pointed out.
“Slums are often seen as depressing and grim places,” he said. “Let’s not forget that they are also places where creativity leads to informal but effective responses to providing various urban services. Many of the small-scale entrepreneurial activities, such as community water distribution and the reuse of domestic wastes to enhance food production, demonstrate an inventive streak that can be harnessed.”
Panellist Albert Wright, a leading authority on water and sanitation, sought to dispel another common misconception. Responding to the comment about spending priorities made by Patricia from Zimbabwe, Wright observed that low-income households might lack liquid assets but still possess a stake in things of value. “It’s not that the poor don’t have money,” he said, “it’s just that their money is busy.”
IWMI’s Africa regional director, Akissa Bahri, stressed the need to consider together the linked issues of sanitation and livelihoods. Industrial and domestic waste, for example, ends up in water and soil that farmers use.
Henk de Zeeuw, coordinator of the international network, Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Forestry (RUAF), sympathized with the plight of farmers such as Joseph in Nairobi. “Rendering the use of polluted water illegal is common,” he said, “but it has made no impact on improving the lives of the poor, who often depend on that water for food production.”
IDRC partners in the field will convey the Swedish end of the interactive discussion back to the farmers who had their say at this year’s World Water Week.
“So many panels are relatively conventional formats with lots of presentations and tough-to-read slides,” said Redwood, who works with IDRC’s Urban Poverty and Environment program. “But with our partner IWMI’s strong field presence and links with many urban farmers, we were able to bring the voice of farmers to Stockholm.”
A final question from the audience validated the innovative approach: “The panel format was good because it got farmers involved. Would you mind if we copied it?”
Kelly Haggart is a senior writer with IDRC’s Communications Division.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Building capacity of small-scale shrimp farmers
Thailand is the world’s largest exporter of shrimps, yet its share of the world largest shrimp market - the European Union - is proportionally far lower. This project aims to understanding the problems and devise solutions and training to boost the incomes of many poor farmers and improve access to the European Union market.
Title: Capacity building of small shrimp farmers on adaptation of best management practices to promote Thai shrimp exports to the EU
Implemented by: Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in cooperation with the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia Pacific, Bangkok
EU-Thailand Economic Cooperation Small Project Facility (SPF) funding: € 171,570
Thailand is the world’s largest exporter of shrimps, yet its share of the world largest shrimp market - the European Union - is proportionally far lower. Furthermore, what Thai shrimps that do make it on to the plates of European diners are mostly from industrial producers instead of the smallholder farmers that dominate shrimp raising in Thailand.
“Thailand is the major exporter of shrimp, but the majority of the exports, about 40 percent, are going to the US. The portion going to the EU is only a little more than 4 percent, yet the EU is the number one global consumer, more than 50 percent. What are the major drawbacks preventing Thailand exporting more?” wonders Dr Dhirendra Prasad Thakur, an aquaculture research specialist at the Asian Institute of Technology’s aquaculture and aquatic resources management programme.
Understanding the problems and devising solutions and training remedies should boost the incomes of many poor farmers and improve access to the European Union market. Dr Thakur has set out to do just that with the help of funds from the Small Projects Facility. “The aim is to find a way to increase shrimp exports to the EU and spread the benefits to the smaller-scale shrimp farmers.”
Tariffs are not the big issue, even India and Vietnam sell more of their shrimp exports to the EU than Thailand. The problem is more fundamental: the shortage of information and market access barriers facing Thailand’s small-scale shrimp farmers, typically those with shrimp ponds covering less than five hectares.
“Nearly 80 percent of the shrimp farms belong to smallholders. The problem for the smaller scale farmers is they are only getting the domestic price, they are not benefiting from the export market. There is a knowledge gap, they are relying on middlemen,” says Dr Thakur.
Clearly, smallholder farmers are struggling to get their fairshare of the market. “When we see the industry in Thailand in general we see a social imbalance. Only about 20 percent of the people involved in the industry are getting most of the benefits, for the rest of the farmers involved in the industry their conditions have not improved much in the years I have been studying them since 1994,” says Dr Thakur.
His study will try to establish exactly how much shrimp from small-holders is making it into exports. Everyone agrees this is far less than their share of production. Suspicion lies in quality, food safety, marketing and a lack of negotiating power.
He is also asking hundreds of small-scale shrimp farmers, in Rayong and Nakhon Sri Thammarat provinces, about their shrimp farming knowledge and practices. That information will help identify knowledge gaps and develop training relevant to local conditions. As well as better farming and food safety practices, farmers will also receive advice and information about marketing.
“Thai farmers are good at day-to-day management, but lack knowledge about environment impacts and lack access to information about marketing. We hope to use local experts to help them improve quality and form groups to bargain for better prices,” says Dr Thakur.
Experts, farmers, officials from the department of fisheries met in April to discuss the findings and lay the basis for training programmes. These will take place in July or August 2007 through half-day sessions, each for 20 farmers, leaving the other half of the day for taking care of the shrimps.
“Seafood safety and product quality guidelines will be taken mostly from the EU. The most complete documentation we can find is from the EU. We will take this information and communicate this to the farmers through outreach via training and brochures and develop some audio-visual CDs or DVDs,” explains Dr Thakur.
Follow-up studies will examine the effectiveness of the training and implementation. Experts, farmers, officials and shrimp processors and exporters will discuss the results at a workshop, probably in September 2007 when the project ends.
Dr Thakur thinks the research and training will not only upgrade the skills and prospects for smallholder shrimp farmers but also improve Thailand’s economic relations with the European Union.
He sees this project as only the beginning as it only tackles the export side of the trading relationship. He hopes to devise a project and elicit cooperation and funding to bring European importers into the equation.
“It would have been nice to have some activity where we could develop links with importers. We need people from the EU-side, from the importers, to help identify best practices. Social issues are also important. If there is a social imbalance in developing countries, developed countries will not be happy. We should have a workshop to bring together importers, exporters and shrimp farmers.”
In the meantime, SPF financing is helping to identify the problems and barriers facing tens of thousands of hard-pressed smallscale shrimp farmers in Thailand, and provide them with the knowledge and skills that can help them increase their earnings and improve their livelihoods.
Title: Capacity building of small shrimp farmers on adaptation of best management practices to promote Thai shrimp exports to the EU
Implemented by: Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in cooperation with the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia Pacific, Bangkok
EU-Thailand Economic Cooperation Small Project Facility (SPF) funding: € 171,570
Thailand is the world’s largest exporter of shrimps, yet its share of the world largest shrimp market - the European Union - is proportionally far lower. Furthermore, what Thai shrimps that do make it on to the plates of European diners are mostly from industrial producers instead of the smallholder farmers that dominate shrimp raising in Thailand.
“Thailand is the major exporter of shrimp, but the majority of the exports, about 40 percent, are going to the US. The portion going to the EU is only a little more than 4 percent, yet the EU is the number one global consumer, more than 50 percent. What are the major drawbacks preventing Thailand exporting more?” wonders Dr Dhirendra Prasad Thakur, an aquaculture research specialist at the Asian Institute of Technology’s aquaculture and aquatic resources management programme.
Understanding the problems and devising solutions and training remedies should boost the incomes of many poor farmers and improve access to the European Union market. Dr Thakur has set out to do just that with the help of funds from the Small Projects Facility. “The aim is to find a way to increase shrimp exports to the EU and spread the benefits to the smaller-scale shrimp farmers.”
Tariffs are not the big issue, even India and Vietnam sell more of their shrimp exports to the EU than Thailand. The problem is more fundamental: the shortage of information and market access barriers facing Thailand’s small-scale shrimp farmers, typically those with shrimp ponds covering less than five hectares.
“Nearly 80 percent of the shrimp farms belong to smallholders. The problem for the smaller scale farmers is they are only getting the domestic price, they are not benefiting from the export market. There is a knowledge gap, they are relying on middlemen,” says Dr Thakur.
Clearly, smallholder farmers are struggling to get their fairshare of the market. “When we see the industry in Thailand in general we see a social imbalance. Only about 20 percent of the people involved in the industry are getting most of the benefits, for the rest of the farmers involved in the industry their conditions have not improved much in the years I have been studying them since 1994,” says Dr Thakur.
His study will try to establish exactly how much shrimp from small-holders is making it into exports. Everyone agrees this is far less than their share of production. Suspicion lies in quality, food safety, marketing and a lack of negotiating power.
He is also asking hundreds of small-scale shrimp farmers, in Rayong and Nakhon Sri Thammarat provinces, about their shrimp farming knowledge and practices. That information will help identify knowledge gaps and develop training relevant to local conditions. As well as better farming and food safety practices, farmers will also receive advice and information about marketing.
“Thai farmers are good at day-to-day management, but lack knowledge about environment impacts and lack access to information about marketing. We hope to use local experts to help them improve quality and form groups to bargain for better prices,” says Dr Thakur.
Experts, farmers, officials from the department of fisheries met in April to discuss the findings and lay the basis for training programmes. These will take place in July or August 2007 through half-day sessions, each for 20 farmers, leaving the other half of the day for taking care of the shrimps.
“Seafood safety and product quality guidelines will be taken mostly from the EU. The most complete documentation we can find is from the EU. We will take this information and communicate this to the farmers through outreach via training and brochures and develop some audio-visual CDs or DVDs,” explains Dr Thakur.
Follow-up studies will examine the effectiveness of the training and implementation. Experts, farmers, officials and shrimp processors and exporters will discuss the results at a workshop, probably in September 2007 when the project ends.
Dr Thakur thinks the research and training will not only upgrade the skills and prospects for smallholder shrimp farmers but also improve Thailand’s economic relations with the European Union.
He sees this project as only the beginning as it only tackles the export side of the trading relationship. He hopes to devise a project and elicit cooperation and funding to bring European importers into the equation.
“It would have been nice to have some activity where we could develop links with importers. We need people from the EU-side, from the importers, to help identify best practices. Social issues are also important. If there is a social imbalance in developing countries, developed countries will not be happy. We should have a workshop to bring together importers, exporters and shrimp farmers.”
In the meantime, SPF financing is helping to identify the problems and barriers facing tens of thousands of hard-pressed smallscale shrimp farmers in Thailand, and provide them with the knowledge and skills that can help them increase their earnings and improve their livelihoods.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Dr. Ren Wang Brings Wealth of Experience in Asia and Africa
WASHINGTON, DC —The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has announced the appointment of Dr. Ren Wang as director of its global network of 15 research Centers. Dr. Wang has served for the last seven years as Deputy Director General for Research at the CGIAR-supported International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, where he developed new collaborative initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia and managed IRRI programs in 14 countries.
“We’re fortunate to have as our new director someone with such extensive experience as both a scientist and a manager of ambitious agricultural research initiatives in developing countries,” said Katherine Sierra, Chair of CGIAR and Vice President of the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Network. “Dr. Wang has a deep understanding of the strategic contribution of the CGIAR’s scientific expertise in helping rural communities, governments, civil society and the private sector to achieve sustainable growth in agricultural productivity.”
“For a scientist committed to seeing agricultural science improve the lives of the world’s poorest people, it’s hard to imagine a higher honor than serving as CGIAR Director,” Dr. Wang said. “I look forward to supporting our thousands of scientists and staff in their efforts to enhance food production around the world in the face of immense global challenges.”
In addition to his work with IRRI, Dr. Wang has made important contributions in shaping China’s internationally renowned agriculture research services. He was Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), where he was the point person for China’s partnership with the CGIAR. Dr. Wang also helped foster an unprecedented level of cooperation with Japan in agriculture through the establishment of the Sino-Japan Center for Sustainable Agriculture at CAAS.
“There is an unfortunate perception that food security and agricultural productivity are no longer important issues in countries like China and Indonesia, which have witnessed strong economic growth,” said Wang. “Yet, even in these countries, there are still concerns because of continued population growth and the prospect of climate change and increased competition between food and fuel uses of crops.”
Dr. Wang is an entomologist by training and holds a PhD in entomology from Virginia Polytechnic and State University. As a researcher, he pioneered a program for biological control of exotic pests in China and later promoted integrated pest management initiatives internationally from various posts, including Deputy Director of the International Institute of Biological Control (IIBC) of CAB International in the UK.
Dr. Wang was selected as Director of CGIAR following an extensive international search, carried out by a committee of representatives from CGIAR co-sponsors, with support from an independent search firm as well as a strong advisory group, consisting of CGIAR Members and one CGIAR Center representative.
“The CGIAR is well positioned to help deal with the consequences of climate change for developing country agriculture and will be making this a high priority,” he said.
In December 2007, Dr. Wang will report on recent contributions of the CGIAR’s scientific expertise in helping rural communities achieve sustainable growth in agricultural productivity at the CGIAR Annual General Meeting in Beijing, China.
“We’re fortunate to have as our new director someone with such extensive experience as both a scientist and a manager of ambitious agricultural research initiatives in developing countries,” said Katherine Sierra, Chair of CGIAR and Vice President of the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Network. “Dr. Wang has a deep understanding of the strategic contribution of the CGIAR’s scientific expertise in helping rural communities, governments, civil society and the private sector to achieve sustainable growth in agricultural productivity.”
“For a scientist committed to seeing agricultural science improve the lives of the world’s poorest people, it’s hard to imagine a higher honor than serving as CGIAR Director,” Dr. Wang said. “I look forward to supporting our thousands of scientists and staff in their efforts to enhance food production around the world in the face of immense global challenges.”
In addition to his work with IRRI, Dr. Wang has made important contributions in shaping China’s internationally renowned agriculture research services. He was Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), where he was the point person for China’s partnership with the CGIAR. Dr. Wang also helped foster an unprecedented level of cooperation with Japan in agriculture through the establishment of the Sino-Japan Center for Sustainable Agriculture at CAAS.
“There is an unfortunate perception that food security and agricultural productivity are no longer important issues in countries like China and Indonesia, which have witnessed strong economic growth,” said Wang. “Yet, even in these countries, there are still concerns because of continued population growth and the prospect of climate change and increased competition between food and fuel uses of crops.”
Dr. Wang is an entomologist by training and holds a PhD in entomology from Virginia Polytechnic and State University. As a researcher, he pioneered a program for biological control of exotic pests in China and later promoted integrated pest management initiatives internationally from various posts, including Deputy Director of the International Institute of Biological Control (IIBC) of CAB International in the UK.
Dr. Wang was selected as Director of CGIAR following an extensive international search, carried out by a committee of representatives from CGIAR co-sponsors, with support from an independent search firm as well as a strong advisory group, consisting of CGIAR Members and one CGIAR Center representative.
“The CGIAR is well positioned to help deal with the consequences of climate change for developing country agriculture and will be making this a high priority,” he said.
In December 2007, Dr. Wang will report on recent contributions of the CGIAR’s scientific expertise in helping rural communities achieve sustainable growth in agricultural productivity at the CGIAR Annual General Meeting in Beijing, China.
New Chickpea Variety Survives Drought in Turkey
A new kabuli chickpea variety, Gokce, developed by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), in collaboration with Turkish national scientists, has withstood severe drought in Turkey and produced an impressive yield in adverse weather conditions.
Gokce is not only drought tolerant but also has moderate tolerance to Ascochyta blight, a disease that devastates chickpea crop. It has survived the acute drought in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey that has wreaked havoc for farmers. In most areas where wheat, barley, and other crops have failed, Gokce’s yield is high.
Turkish newspapers have quoted the Turkish Union of Agricultural Chambers (TZOB) as claiming that the loss from the drought is estimated to be about 5 billion Turkish Lira or US$ 4 billion. The government has allocated YTL 514 million (US$411 million) for compensation to farmers.
However, farmers cultivating Gokce in the Central Anatolia region say that the yield is expected to be around one-and-a-half tons per hectare, while other crops have been badly hit by the current drought.
“Work on developing this variety began in 1984/85 as part of an international yield trial,” says Dr R. S. Malhotra, senior chickpea breeder at ICARDA. “Gokce was released for field trials in Turkey in 1991.”
ICARDA, based in Aleppo, Syria, is a non-profit international agricultural research center in a worldwide consortium of 15 centers, supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
Based on the success of the field trials, the Exporters’ Union Seed and Research Company (ITAS), a non-profit organization set up by agricultural exporters of Turkey, introduced Gokce into the country in 1997. “The results of field trials were excellent and we got the variety registered,” says Ismail Kusmenoglu, general manager of ITAS.
ITAS initiated an Integrated Technology Transfer Project in 1997 and planted 1400 kg of foundation seed in Konya in the Central Anatolia region in the spring of 1998. The seed was then distributed to growers in 2000. Since then, 100-150 tons of certified seed has been provided to farmers for cultivation.
As Gokce cultivation expanded, the average yield of chickpea increased noticeably from 861 kg per hectare in 2000 to 1071 kg per hectare in 2006. Chickpea is now grown in some 600,000 hectares in Turkey, of which nearly two-thirds is in the Central Anatolia region.
This year Gokce has been planted in almost 85 % of the chickpea production area such as Gaziantep and Adiyaman in Southeast Anatolia, Ankara, Eskisehir, Konya, Karaman, Isparta, Corum, Kirsehir, Yozgat and Sivas in Central Anatolia.
Turkey is one of the largest exporters of kabuli chickpea in the world and Turkish farmers have quickly adopted Gokce because of its large seed size and tolerance to drought and Ascochyta blight.
For more information-contact: Dr R. S. Malhotra (r.malhotra@cgiar.org)
Gokce is not only drought tolerant but also has moderate tolerance to Ascochyta blight, a disease that devastates chickpea crop. It has survived the acute drought in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey that has wreaked havoc for farmers. In most areas where wheat, barley, and other crops have failed, Gokce’s yield is high.
Turkish newspapers have quoted the Turkish Union of Agricultural Chambers (TZOB) as claiming that the loss from the drought is estimated to be about 5 billion Turkish Lira or US$ 4 billion. The government has allocated YTL 514 million (US$411 million) for compensation to farmers.
However, farmers cultivating Gokce in the Central Anatolia region say that the yield is expected to be around one-and-a-half tons per hectare, while other crops have been badly hit by the current drought.
“Work on developing this variety began in 1984/85 as part of an international yield trial,” says Dr R. S. Malhotra, senior chickpea breeder at ICARDA. “Gokce was released for field trials in Turkey in 1991.”
ICARDA, based in Aleppo, Syria, is a non-profit international agricultural research center in a worldwide consortium of 15 centers, supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
Based on the success of the field trials, the Exporters’ Union Seed and Research Company (ITAS), a non-profit organization set up by agricultural exporters of Turkey, introduced Gokce into the country in 1997. “The results of field trials were excellent and we got the variety registered,” says Ismail Kusmenoglu, general manager of ITAS.
ITAS initiated an Integrated Technology Transfer Project in 1997 and planted 1400 kg of foundation seed in Konya in the Central Anatolia region in the spring of 1998. The seed was then distributed to growers in 2000. Since then, 100-150 tons of certified seed has been provided to farmers for cultivation.
As Gokce cultivation expanded, the average yield of chickpea increased noticeably from 861 kg per hectare in 2000 to 1071 kg per hectare in 2006. Chickpea is now grown in some 600,000 hectares in Turkey, of which nearly two-thirds is in the Central Anatolia region.
This year Gokce has been planted in almost 85 % of the chickpea production area such as Gaziantep and Adiyaman in Southeast Anatolia, Ankara, Eskisehir, Konya, Karaman, Isparta, Corum, Kirsehir, Yozgat and Sivas in Central Anatolia.
Turkey is one of the largest exporters of kabuli chickpea in the world and Turkish farmers have quickly adopted Gokce because of its large seed size and tolerance to drought and Ascochyta blight.
For more information-contact: Dr R. S. Malhotra (r.malhotra@cgiar.org)
Monday, August 20, 2007
Controlling basal stem rot disease in palm oil
TrichoGreen is a Trichoderma-infused compost which is also an effective biological control agent against the basal stem rot disease for palm oil. The production process is entirely organic, eliminates the need for burning, and is an excellent form of environmentally-friendly waste management.
Trichogreen, the Biocontrol Agent and Growth Enhancer for the Oil Palm Industry
Faridah Abdullah
TrichoGreen is a Trichoderma-infused compost which has proven to be effective as a biological control
agent against the basal stem rot disease based on repeated trials using oil palm seedlings as a disease model.
The production of TrichoGreen is a recycling process, turning agricultural waste into useful products. The production process is entirely organic, eliminates the need for burning, and is an excellent form of environmentally-friendly waste management. The industry is sustainable and can generate downstream activities.
The product was later found to be a good plant growth enhancer as well. The biocontrol property of Trichoderma is isolate-specific and from extensive in vitro screening, isolate FA 1132 (T. harzianum) was selected as the best candidate for biocontrol purposes. From nursery trials, TrichoGreen can save as much as 95% of plants if treatment is given simultaneously to the infected seedlings; the success rate decreases with increased severity of tissue damage caused to the palm.
The product has been successfully upscaled using a bioreactor, producing x107 propagules/ml within 96 hours, which was then used to prepare inocula and subsequently in its mass production, using palm pressed fibres (PPF) agrowaste as the feedstock. The PPF were piled into windrows at 50 mt feedstock
per row of 80m x 4m. Together with intermittent supplies of POME (palm oil mill effluents) and scheduled turnovers in a solid substrate fermentation, the final product of 22mt per windrow at x1011 propagules/kg material, was achieved over 12 to 15 weeks. Field trials over 8 weeks’ treatment thus far showed that it significantly enhanced growth of the oil palm, followed only by organic compost and thirdly the routinely-used fertiliser application. Field applications of TrichoGreen on
Ganoderma-infected fields are currently on trial and the results are estimated in 2 to 3 years.
Dr. Nayan KANWAL
Email: ndeeps@admin.upm.edu.my
TrichoGreen is a Trichoderma-infused compost which is also an effective biological control agent against the basal stem rot disease for palm oil. The production process is entirely organic, eliminates the need for burning, and is an excellent form of environmentally-friendly waste management.
Trichogreen, the Biocontrol Agent and Growth Enhancer for the Oil Palm Industry
Faridah Abdullah
TrichoGreen is a Trichoderma-infused compost which has proven to be effective as a biological control
agent against the basal stem rot disease based on repeated trials using oil palm seedlings as a disease model.
The production of TrichoGreen is a recycling process, turning agricultural waste into useful products. The production process is entirely organic, eliminates the need for burning, and is an excellent form of environmentally-friendly waste management. The industry is sustainable and can generate downstream activities.
The product was later found to be a good plant growth enhancer as well. The biocontrol property of Trichoderma is isolate-specific and from extensive in vitro screening, isolate FA 1132 (T. harzianum) was selected as the best candidate for biocontrol purposes. From nursery trials, TrichoGreen can save as much as 95% of plants if treatment is given simultaneously to the infected seedlings; the success rate decreases with increased severity of tissue damage caused to the palm.
The product has been successfully upscaled using a bioreactor, producing x107 propagules/ml within 96 hours, which was then used to prepare inocula and subsequently in its mass production, using palm pressed fibres (PPF) agrowaste as the feedstock. The PPF were piled into windrows at 50 mt feedstock
per row of 80m x 4m. Together with intermittent supplies of POME (palm oil mill effluents) and scheduled turnovers in a solid substrate fermentation, the final product of 22mt per windrow at x1011 propagules/kg material, was achieved over 12 to 15 weeks. Field trials over 8 weeks’ treatment thus far showed that it significantly enhanced growth of the oil palm, followed only by organic compost and thirdly the routinely-used fertiliser application. Field applications of TrichoGreen on
Ganoderma-infected fields are currently on trial and the results are estimated in 2 to 3 years.
Dr. Nayan KANWAL
Email: ndeeps@admin.upm.edu.my
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Putting a STOP to acid stress
A transcription protein called STOP1 helps plants to tolerate aluminum ions and protons
Plant growth can be badly stunted by excess ions in the soil. This effect, called acid soil syndrome, can cause severe agricultural yield losses, especially in areas prone to drought. For this reason, a team of researchers from RIKEN and two Japanese universities are working to identify genes that regulate a plant’s tolerance of ions (1).
Much work has been done on aluminum toxicity in plants, but little is known about the genes that control direct tolerance to acid in the form of hydrogen ions, or protons. The researchers prepared thale cress, Arabidopsis thaliana, from seeds treated with ethyl methanesulfonate to introduce random point mutations in their genome. The seeds were cultivated in an acidic (proton-rich) environment, and the researchers looked for seedlings that failed to grow roots.
“We carried out screening using 25,000 seedlings,” says project leader Satoshi Iuchi from the RIKEN BioResources Center in Tsukuba. “Finally we obtained one mutant that had an acid sensitive phenotype.”
The mutant plant, named stop1 (Sensitive TO Proton), was cloned and subjected to DNA sequencing. The sequencing revealed mutations in a part of the genome that encodes a protein called STOP1, consisting of 499 amino acids. The protein contains four ‘zinc-finger’ domains that regulate DNA transcription in the cell nucleus.
The researchers next investigated whether the stop1 mutant strain was sensitive to other toxic ions. It showed no particular sensitivity to cadmium, copper, sodium, lanthanum or manganese, but was extra sensitive to aluminum ions—stop1 plants showed 80–90% reduced root growth when exposed to aluminum, compared to only 30% in control plants.
Arabidopsis is known to tolerate aluminum by excreting malate, an ionized form of malic acid that is regulated by a gene called AtALMT1. This new study confirmed the link—stop1 mutants failed to express AtALMT1 in the toxic aluminum, and did not excrete any malate.
However, when AtALMT1 was deliberately disrupted in the control plants, the proton sensitivity was not affected. Therefore STOP1 must regulate different genes related to proton sensitivity (Fig. 1).
This work puts STOP1 on the expanding list of transcriptional factors that respond to stress and regulate genes to ensure a plant’s survival. Iuchi believes genetic modification of proteins such as STOP1 is the best way to improve farming efficiency. “Large amounts of chemical fertilizer are used in agriculture, which causes problems,” he says. “If enhanced-tolerance plants can be used, chemical fertilizer usage can be reduced.”
Reference
1. Iuchi, S., Koyama, H., Iuchi, A., Kobayashi, Y., Kitabayashi, S., Kobayashi, Y., Ikka, T., Hirayama, T., Shinozaki, K. & Kobayashi, M. Zinc finger protein STOP1 is critical for proton tolerance in Arabidopsis and coregulates a key gene in aluminum tolerance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104, 9900–9905 (2007).
Plant growth can be badly stunted by excess ions in the soil. This effect, called acid soil syndrome, can cause severe agricultural yield losses, especially in areas prone to drought. For this reason, a team of researchers from RIKEN and two Japanese universities are working to identify genes that regulate a plant’s tolerance of ions (1).
Much work has been done on aluminum toxicity in plants, but little is known about the genes that control direct tolerance to acid in the form of hydrogen ions, or protons. The researchers prepared thale cress, Arabidopsis thaliana, from seeds treated with ethyl methanesulfonate to introduce random point mutations in their genome. The seeds were cultivated in an acidic (proton-rich) environment, and the researchers looked for seedlings that failed to grow roots.
“We carried out screening using 25,000 seedlings,” says project leader Satoshi Iuchi from the RIKEN BioResources Center in Tsukuba. “Finally we obtained one mutant that had an acid sensitive phenotype.”
The mutant plant, named stop1 (Sensitive TO Proton), was cloned and subjected to DNA sequencing. The sequencing revealed mutations in a part of the genome that encodes a protein called STOP1, consisting of 499 amino acids. The protein contains four ‘zinc-finger’ domains that regulate DNA transcription in the cell nucleus.
The researchers next investigated whether the stop1 mutant strain was sensitive to other toxic ions. It showed no particular sensitivity to cadmium, copper, sodium, lanthanum or manganese, but was extra sensitive to aluminum ions—stop1 plants showed 80–90% reduced root growth when exposed to aluminum, compared to only 30% in control plants.
Arabidopsis is known to tolerate aluminum by excreting malate, an ionized form of malic acid that is regulated by a gene called AtALMT1. This new study confirmed the link—stop1 mutants failed to express AtALMT1 in the toxic aluminum, and did not excrete any malate.
However, when AtALMT1 was deliberately disrupted in the control plants, the proton sensitivity was not affected. Therefore STOP1 must regulate different genes related to proton sensitivity (Fig. 1).
This work puts STOP1 on the expanding list of transcriptional factors that respond to stress and regulate genes to ensure a plant’s survival. Iuchi believes genetic modification of proteins such as STOP1 is the best way to improve farming efficiency. “Large amounts of chemical fertilizer are used in agriculture, which causes problems,” he says. “If enhanced-tolerance plants can be used, chemical fertilizer usage can be reduced.”
Reference
1. Iuchi, S., Koyama, H., Iuchi, A., Kobayashi, Y., Kitabayashi, S., Kobayashi, Y., Ikka, T., Hirayama, T., Shinozaki, K. & Kobayashi, M. Zinc finger protein STOP1 is critical for proton tolerance in Arabidopsis and coregulates a key gene in aluminum tolerance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104, 9900–9905 (2007).
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