International Symposium on Agrobiodiversity for Sustainable Development

Bioversity International and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences will be organising the ”International Symposium on Agrobiodiversity for Sustainable Development”,  03-04 June 2013 in Beijing, China.

The symposium will focus on the important role of agricultural biodiversity in agroecological intensification for supporting productive and resilient farming systems to improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers. The symposium will also aim to understand the local cultural values in enhancing productivity through the use of traditional crop varieties, traditional farming practices and climate change response strategies.

Please read this PDF document or contact the organising committee directly at email hidden; JavaScript is required for more information. Participants need to submit this registration form to the organisers before 30 April 2013. The local costs of accommodation and food will be covered by the organisers for registered participants presenting scientific posters.

Proceedings of the “2nd International Symposium on Underutilised Plant Species: Crops for the Future – Beyond Food Security”

We are pleased to announce that the proceedings of the “2^nd International Symposium on Underutilised Plant Species: Crops for the Future – Beyond Food Security” has been published by Acta Horticulturae publication of International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS) on 31 March 2013.

The symposium was held on 27 June-01 July 2011 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was organised by Crops for the Future Research Centre, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus under the auspices of ISHS. The event was co-convened and supported by Crops for the Future, Bioversity International, the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Boustead Holdings Berhad, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Kirkhouse Trust, British Council and Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.

The follow-up to this symposium is the coming “3rd International Conference on Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS)” that will take place on 23-25 September 2013, in Accra, Ghana. Please visit the official conference website for more information. Interested participants are encouraged to sign up for the conference newsletter to receive updates on the development of this conference.

Archived postings of the symposium in the past:

http://www.cropsforthefuture.org/2011/08/crops-for-the-future-symposium-2011-introduction/

http://www.cropsforthefuture.org/2010/09/2nd-international-symposium-on-underutilised-plant-species-2/

Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds: Community Resilience in the Face of Change

The Wageningen University and Research Centre for Development Innovation (CDI) will be organising a training programme on “Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds: Community Resilience in the Face of Change”, from 28 October to 16 November 2013, in Jeypore and Chennai, India.

The overall objective of this training programme is to enhance participants’ capabilities to associate Community Biodiversity Management (CBM) as integrated strategies for managing Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGFRA) and building community resilience towards climate change.

Full travel, board and lodging expenditures would be provided by the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes to successful applicants. Deadline for fellowship application is 07 May 2013 through fellowships for short courses on “Scholarship Online“.

Please read this PDF document or visit the official website of CDI for more information.

2nd Global Moringa Meet 2013

The Centre for Jatropha Promotion & Biodiesel (CJP) will be organising the “2nd Global Moringa Meet 2013”, along with a “Two Days Moringa State of Art International Workshop” this coming 21-22 November 2013 in Jaipur, India.

The focus of the events is to share the latest research and developments on Moringa crop production and commercialisation.

You can contact the organizers directly at email hidden; JavaScript is required, or visit the official conference website for more information.

The Horticulture CRSP Trellis Fund

The Horticulture CRSP Trellis Fund provides small-scale, in-country development organisations access to U.S. graduate student expertise, providing benefit to both the student and the in-country institutions.

Organisations in 18 selected developing countries are invited to identify a horticultural problem facing local farmers and the type of expertise they seek in a U.S. graduate student. Interested organisation are requested to submit a project proposal with their intended objectives, activities, gender program and a $2,000 budget

Graduate students from UC Davis, Cornell University, North Carolina State University and University of Hawaii at Manoa are invited to submit applications to participate in this programme. Selected students will travel to meet their partner organisation and, upon return, will support their organisation’s outreach programme via email.

Deadline to both organisations and graduate students applications closes on 04 March 2013. Please visit the official website of the Horticulture CRSP Trellis Fund 2013 for more information or direct your enquiries to email hidden; JavaScript is required.