A Global Plant Council has been formed as part of an historic and groundbreaking summit of major plant science societies from around the world. Twenty one scientists representing 13 plant science societies gathered in Honolulu July 15–16 at a summit organized by the American Society of Plant Biologists ASPB to explore ways in which plant scientists can come together to address global concerns such as world hunger, energy, climate change, health and well-being, sustainability, and environmental protection. The mission of the Global Plant Council will be to define and engage in coordinated strategies to address these critical issues and to increase awareness of the central role of plant science in their resolution. The shared vision and unified effort of plant scientists from all regions of the world will enable the most effective use of knowledge and resources to tackle the major challenges confronting all nations in the 21^st century.

As stated by Dr. Kasem Zaki Ahmed, president of the African Crop Science Society, “The world relies on ten major crops to provide 95% of the food consumed by humans and farm animals. To address the problems facing Africa we must improve existing crops and develop new ones that have higher yields and greater resistance to pests, pathogens, drought, and other environmental stresses.”

Plant biology–and thus plant science research–is central to other global challenges as well. European scientist Dr. Wilhelm Gruissem (president of the European Plant Science Organisation) noted, “We must address the key issues of biodiversity in natural and managed environments”. Dr. Zhihong Xu, president of the Chinese Society of Plant Physiologists noted, “We need to increase the search for and investment in the discovery and development of new and existing bioactive compounds and medicines from a diversity of plant species.”

The newly formed Global Plant Council will move forward to create partnerships and collaborations that tackle and solve what we all recognize as critical and immediate problems for our planet.

“The Global Plant Council is the first step that plant scientists across the globe have taken to speak with one voice on the pressing challenges that face humankind,” said Mel Oliver, summit moderator.

For more information visit ASPB

As you are aware “Crops for the Future” is working on a merge of information from the GFU and the ICUC websites. Before databases will be merged we need to find intermediate solutions. For this reason we created this post to point you to all the publications collected and categorized by the GFU. To find documents and publications added to our common collection simply go to “Info Portal > Featured Literature”.

• Awareness & Knowledge Sharing
• Biology
• Indigenous Knowledge & Ethnobotany
• Legislation & Standards
• Management of Plant Biodiversity
• Markets & Marketing
• Nutrition & Health
• Policies & Strategies
• Post Harvest & Value Adding
• Seed Supply
• Social & Equity Issues

Bioversity International is pleased to announce the 2010 Call for Research Proposals for the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship. You can find all the relevant information (announcement, application form and guidelines) here.

The Vavilov-Frankel Fellowships Fund aims to encourage the conservation and use of plant genetic resources in developing countries by awarding Fellowships to outstanding young researchers to carry out relevant innovative research at an advanced research institute outside their own country for a period of three months to one year.

The latest issue of FAO’s Non-Wood Forest Products Digest is now available here. It is full of interesting information. Back issues of the Digest may be found on FAO’s NWFP home page.

During September 2009 a suite of meetings and events will take place in Fiji, related to plant genetic resources:

21-22 September: “Crops for the Future in the Pacific”. This consultation meeting aims to explore the potential of under-utilized species as crops for the future in the Pacific region and highlight the areas/gaps that would benefit from further action. The outcomes from this seminar will feed into the next phase of the Pacific PGR network (PAPGREN) project.

23-24 September: ITPGRFA meeting. This meeting is a follow up to the 3rd Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) meeting in Tunis, Tunisia (June 2009). At this 3rd Session meeting the Pacific officially placed the collections held in trust by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees into the Multilateral System of the Treaty. At the two day workshop in Fiji participants will cover the following issues related to ratification and implementation of the Treaty, namely (a) using the SMTA (b) how to fulfill your obligations under the Treaty (c) issues related to accession to the Treaty (d) international and regional cooperation in the implementation of the Treaty

25 September: Opening of the new Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT) in Suva.

26 September – 2 October: PAPGREN meeting and training. This is the annual meeting of the Pacific Plant Genetic Resources Network (PAPGREN) during which PAPGREN members will present their country activities for the last year. The role that diversity plays in climate change, nutrition and trade will be discussed as these are key issues in the Pacific. Three days of this week long meeting will be spent conducting training in genebank management to include morphological and molecular characterization.

The above meetings are co-organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Communities (SPC), the Asia-Pacific Association for Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) and Crops for the Future. For more information contact email hidden; JavaScript is required.