Seed Info 30, January 2006

S E E D I N F O

Official Newsletter of the WANA Seed Network

No. 30, January 2006

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Meetings and Courses_______________________________________________________

Announcements of meetings, seminars, workshops and training courses appear in this section. Please send us national, regional or international announcements for workshops, seminars and training courses organized in your country for inclusion in the next issue.

Conferences

1st Mediterranean Congress on Biotechnology, 25-29 March 2006, Hammamet, Tunisia:
In addition to oral and poster presentations, at least four plenary lectures and 16 symposium lectures including plenary sessions will be presented by competent speakers on all aspects of biotechnology and industry, biotechnology and environment, biotechnology and health, and biotechnology and agriculture. For more information, please contact: Samir Bejar at samir.bejar@cbs.rnrt.tn or visit the website at http://www.fmcb.africa-web.org. Source: CropBiotech Update 28 October 2005.

AFSTA Seed Congress 2006, 28-31 March, Entebbe, Uganda
The sixth Annual African Seed Trade Association Congress will take place from 28-31 March 2006 in Entebbe, Uganda. The Congress will provide a forum to discuss the challenges of improving agricultural research and accessing new technologies and its adoption. It will also be a forum for interaction for seed people to identify new market opportunities and investment prospects. Training on important topics of the seed industry for congress participants will be part of the program of the in 2006. For more information or registration, please contact: AFSTA Secretariat, P.O. Box 2428 - 00202 KNH, Nairobi, Kenya; Tel: ++254-20- 2727853; Fax: ++254-20-2727861; E-mail: afsta@kenyaweb.com or visit the congress website at: http://www.afsta.org/congress_page.asp

ISF World Seed Congress 2006, 29-31 May 2006, Copenhagen, Denmark
The The ISF World Seed Congress 2006 will be held from 29-31 May 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark and is set in three different venues (Scandic Copenhagen Wallmans Cirkusbygningen,Øksnehallen) all in close proximity and within walking distance from the various hotels. Thy Congress is expected to discuss issues such as co-existence, farm saved seed, testing methods for adventitious presence of GM material in non-GM seed and phytosanitary regulations as a potential barrier to trade. Delegates will also have the opportunity to contribute to the future direction of the ISF in terms of the protection of biotechnological inventions, sustainable agriculture, and the possible use of molecular markers for protection of intellectual property, as well as the disclosure of origin in PVR applications. For more information or registration, please contact: ISF Secretariat, Chemin du Reposoir 5-7, 11260 Nyon, Switzerland; Tel: +41-22-3654425; Fax: +41-22-3654421; E-mail:register@worldseed.org or visit the congress website at: http://www.worldseed2006.com

13th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference, 18-21 April 2006, Christchurch Convention Christchurch, New Zealand
The theme of the conference is Breeding for Success: Diversity in Action. It aims to highlight the economic, social, and environmental benefits of plant breeding in Australia, New Zealand, and South East Asia. It is organized in conjunction with the New Zealand Grassland Association Inc., and will be based on six core themes: benefits from plant improvement; genetic resources in a genomics era; environmental challenges and opportunities; plant gene technologies; added value products; and parallel breeding of plants and associated organisms.

Additional features include field tours through New Zealand to highlight practical innovation across the agriculture, horticulture, and forestry industries; and a master class in plant breeding, which will use practical examples and computer models to demonstrate the application of quantitative and population genetics in plant breeding. For details, please contact: Helen Shrewsbury, Conference Secretariat, at shrewsbh@lincoln.ac.nz, or visit the website at: http://www.apbc.org.nz

ISTA Annual Meeting 2006, June 26-29 June 2006, Glattbrugg, Zurich, Switzerland
The meeting is aimed to discuss and decide on proposals for changes to the ISTA International Rules for Seed Testing and business items of the Association, with the international participation of ISTA delegates and representatives from both the private seed sector and governments, including experts in seed technology, scientific research and laboratory accreditation. The main subjects of the meeting will be:

•	GMO testing-reports and evaluations on the international proficiency tests and update on the work of the corresponding ISTA GMO Task Force Working Groups
•	Accreditation of laboratories for testing for the presence of specific traits by the performance based approach-first laboratory experiences
•	Generic Method Validation - latest update and future planning on the efforts of the Working Group
•	Amalgamation of the ISTA Rules-latest update on the work
•	ISTA Quality Assurance Program-report and evaluation on the accreditation of laboratories worldwide

The preliminary program is now available on the ISTA website for download. Early registration is valid until 15 February 2006. For online registration: https://www.seedtest.org/stream/nl-l---1--%40a3a28d620689--31.html

Further upcoming ISTA Workshops include the following:
ISTA Purity Workshop, 26-27 January 2006
Location: Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), Nakuru, Kenya
Details: https://www.seedtest.org/stream/nl-l---1--%40a3a28d620689--32.html

2nd ISTA Moisture Workshop 10-13 April 2006
Location: Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Details: https://www.seedtest.org/stream/nl-l---1--%40a3a28d620689--33.html

ISTA Vigor Testing Workshop, 10-12 May 2006
Location: Station Nationale d'Essais de Semences, GEVES, Beaucouzé, France
Details: https://www.seedtest.org/stream/nl-l---1--%40a3a28d620689--34.html

Agricultural Biotechnology: Facts, Analysis and Policies, 29 June-2 July 2006, Ravello, Italy
The 2006 Conference of the International Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology Research (ICABR) will take place in Ravello, Italy. The theme of the Conference is: Agricultural Biotechnology: Facts, Analysis and Policies. The following address links you to the call for paper: http://www.economia.uniroma2.it/conferenze/icabr2006/call_for_paper.asp

For any further information please contact: Prof. Vittorio Santaniello, Department of Economics and Institutions, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Via Columbia 2, 00133, Rome, Italy; E-mail: icabr@economia.uniroma2.it

Courses

Wageningen International Courses in 2006
Wageningen International (ex International Agricultural Center) will offer an eight-week program consisting of eight courses from 8 May to 30 June 2006 in Wageningen, the Netherlands. The course covers practical and policy orientation in genetic resources conservation and use through plant biotechnology, plant breeding and seed sector development. It is organized as an individual two-week course that is independent and comprehensive, but alternatively participants can combine two, three or four courses in an individual learning program tailored to their professional interest and institutional needs:

•	Participatory approaches in genetic resource management
•	Molecular markers in GR conservation and crop improvement
•	Genebank management: conservation and promoting use
•	" Plant biotechnology and biosafety
•	Master class on seed technology
•	Integrated quality management in genetic resources
•	Genetic resource policies and freedom to operate practice
•	Promoting agrobiodiversity use: market and chains
•	Plant variety protection

A limited number of fellowships are available from the Netherlands Fellowship Program (NFP) for nationals of a limited number of countries. For further information on the application or funding visit the website at: http://www.wur.nl/funding