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ICARDA News International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012 Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG Website: www.icarda.org
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Media
contact: Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG) | |||
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Model
Legume Congress 2007 held in Tunisia
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The international
'Model Legume Congress 2007' was held in Tunis, Tunisia, 24-28 March
2007. The conference was jointly organized by various institutions:
the Laboratory Interactions Leguminous Microorganisms, Centre de Biotechnologie,
Technolopole de Borg-Cedria, Tunisia; Laboratoire Symbioses et Pathologies
des Plantes, France; and ICARDA.
The Congress was attended by about 145 participants from 25 countries. ICARDA was represented by Dr Ashutosh Sarker, Lentil Breeder and member of the International Advisory Board for the Congress; Dr Mohammed El Mourid, ICARDA-NARP Regional Coordinator and member of the Organizing Committee; and biotechnologists Dr Michael Baum and Dr Sripada Udupa. ICARDA also sponsored national collaborators from Algeria, Bangladesh, India, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Congress was inaugurated by Prof. Lazar Bououni, Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technology. Dr El Mourid was among the special guests at the opening ceremony. In their opening remarks, Prof. Bououni and other guests emphasized the role of legumes in sustainable agriculture, and the need for more basic research for genetic enhancement of food/feed legume crops. Prof. M. Zabeau of Ghent University, Belgium, presented the keynote paper on 'Plant Biotechnology and Biodiversity Contributions to Sustainable Agriculture in Developed and Developing Countries'. The Congress featured six technical sessions and a total of 125 posters and presentations. Most of the papers were on advanced science and basic molecular and physiological research on plants and rhizobia, including several papers on genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics etc., which stimulated considerable discussion. ICARDA scientists made four oral presentations: Ascochyta blight of chickpea: variation in pathogenicity and molecular mapping of host resistance genes (Udupa), Genetic enhancement of kabuli chickpea for resistance to biotic stresses (Udupa), Genetic enhancement for abiotic stress tolerance in lentil, chickpea and faba bean (Baum), Winter lentils: inheritance and mapping of winter-hardiness genes in lentil (Sarker). They also presented additional papers in the form of posters. ICARDA-sponsored NARS participants, Dr M. Ali from India and Dr Jalal Uddin from Bangladesh, spoke on the outcomes of ICARDA-NARS collaboration on lentil and chickpea improvement. Drs R. Dahan and Imane Thami Alami from Morocco presented posters on food legume research and studies on diversity of Rhizobium species. Dr Thami Alami's poster was selected as one of the five best posters at the Congress. ICARDA's work was also highlighted through a display of publications. The booth attracted great interest - stocks of most publications were exhausted quickly. |
About
ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.org)
serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil, and
faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management of water,
improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants (sheep and goats),
and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In the Central and West Asia
and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible for the improvement of
durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage legumes and farming systems;
and for the protection and enhancement of the natural resource base of water,
land, and biodiversity.
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance of countries, international
and regional organizations, and private foundations supporting15 international
research centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development
by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting
the environment.