December 19, 2008
Global 
Forging Alliances, Forging Ahead Against Hunger
Review of CGIAR and NARS Linkages 

Americas 
US GAO Report on Regulatory Process for GE Crops
Study Suggests Climate Change Could Boost Corn Pests
Drought Increases Vitamin E Levels in Soybean Seeds
Brazil's CTNBio Approves New GM Corn
Soybean to Resist Roundworm with its Own Gene
USDA Seeks Comment on Herbicide-Tolerant Corn Deregulation
UC Davis Gets US$ 6.8 M to Map Wheat Genome
Monsanto and Plant Health Care to Collaborate on Harpin Technology

Asia and the Pacific 
GM Wheat and Barley with Altered Grain Starch Composition
Biotech Helps Fight Climate Change
Indonesian Scientists on Biotech Foods
Bangladeshi Biotechnologists Organize Roundtable with Journalists
 
Europe 
Italy Approves Biotech Field Trials
GM Crops Could Reduce Need for Herbicides
EFSA's Opinion on Nanotechnology and Food and Feed Safety

Research 
Auxin Holds the Key to More Efficient Crops
Scientists Find Molecular Switch for Cellulose Production
Transgenic Tobacco with TT8 cDNA Accumulated High Flavonoid Contents

DOCUMENT REMINDERS

News
GLOBAL
FORGING ALLIANCES, FORGING AHEAD AGAINST HUNGER
A meeting coordinated by the US Alliance to End Hunger and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Liaison Office for North America on behalf of the International Alliance was held in Washington DC to discuss strategies to fight global hunger. Participated by representatives from Brazil, Canada, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Sierra Leone and the United States, the meeting was highlighted by the sharing of ideas and best practices to raise awareness of potential donors on the importance of interaction across national groups working on hunger issues. The UN Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation were some of the presenters.

FAO Assistant Director-General Lorraine Williams, Chair of the International Alliance against Hunger in her remarks appealed to US President-elect Barack Obama "to make the emancipation of humanity from hunger a centerpiece of American foreign policy." She added, however, that "appeals to individual leaders, if they are to carry weight, must be reinforced by building a strong constituency of public support for the idea that mankind can - and must - rid the world of hunger once and forever". In a Congressional Briefing to the participants about hunger, Congressman Jim McGovern, Co-Chair of the House Hunger Caucus disclosed his optimism that the issue on hunger will be a priority in the new US administration.

The International Alliance was founded in 2003 by the Rome-based food and agriculture agencies - FAO, the World Food Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and Bioversity International - to advocate jointly for more determined action against hunger and malnutrition.

For details, see press release at http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/8973/icode/

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REVIEW OF CGIAR AND NARS LINKAGES
A review of biotechnology-related work in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and partner National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) forwarded several recommendations to improve the process. It noted the "clear need for special procedures, particularly involving key NARS at the earliest stage, to ensure efficient flow from research to use." The following recommendations are a result of a workshop "Biotechnology, biosafety and the CGIAR: Promoting best practice in science and policy", organized by the Science Council of the CGIAR, the International Rice Research Institute, and Bioversity International: 

• A network to improve the delivery of CGIAR biotech products is imperative. The Network should involve NARS and other partners. Its functions should include identification of best practices, development of business plans, and other aspects of product development and delivery.

• System‐wide representation at international policy fora should be coordinated (possibly through the CGIAR Biotechnology Research Support Network), particularly in providing technical contributions and highlighting research options/scenarios.

A pre-publication version of the workshop report is at http://www.sciencecouncil.cgiar.org/home/priorities-strategies/en/
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AMERICAS
US GAO REPORT ON REGULATORY PROCESS FOR GE CROPS
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in its report on "Genetically Engineered Crops: Agencies Are Proposing Changes to Improve Oversight, but Could Take Additional Steps to Enhance Coordination and Monitoring" forwarded several recommendations in its review of the regulatory process for genetically engineered (GE) crops. These are: 1) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) make public the results of its early food safety assessments of GE crops; ·2) US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and FDA develop an agreement to share information on GE crops with traits that, if released into the food or feed supply, could cause health concerns; and 3) USDA, Environmental Protection Agency, and FDA develop a risk-based strategy for monitoring the widespread use of marketed GE crops.

In reaction to the report, Sharon Bomer Lauritsen, executive vice president, food and agriculture for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), stated that "The Biotechnology Industry Organization and its member companies are confident in the rigorous testing and approval regimes of biotech products put in place by U.S. government authorities. "While we are still reviewing the 109-page report, it appears that the GAO has suggested a small number of recommendations that could improve an already robust system. However, GAO is ignoring the fact that the three agencies working together have approved for commercial use dozens of crops that have been safely developed, tested and commercialized for the marketplace."

Access the full report at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0960.pdf.

The Bio statement is available at http://www.bio.org/news/pressreleases/newsitem.asp?id=2008_1205_01

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STUDY SUGGESTS CLIMATE CHANGE COULD BOOST CORN PESTS
Warmer growing seasons and milder winters, brought about by climate change, could boost populations of insects that feed on corn and other crops, according to a Purdue University study. Severe pest infestation may significantly decrease corn yield in the United States, the world's top corn producer and exporter. The study appears in the current issue of Environmental Research Letters.

Noah Diffenbaugh and his colleagues compared conservative climate change models to the temperature survival thresholds of four common corn pests found in the U.S.: corn earworm, the European corn borer, northern corn rootworm and western corn rootworm. "Basically, we examined both the number of days warm enough for the pests to grow and the number of days cold enough to kill the pests, assuming the pests' documented climate tolerances remain the same," explained Purdue entomologist Christian Krupke, co-author of the paper. "This tells us what could happen in projected future climates.

"The scientists predict that increases in temperatures could result to a substantial range expansion of each of the pests surveyed, especially in the case of corn earworm (Heliothis zea), a migratory, usually insecticide-resistant and cold-intolerant pest.

Read the full article at http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008b/081216DiffenbaughCornpests.html The paper published by Environmental Research Letters is available to subscribers at http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1748-9326/3/4/044007/erl8_4_044007.html

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DROUGHT INCREASES VITAMIN E LEVELS IN SOYBEAN SEEDS
Scientists at the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have found that weather and climate play key roles in levels of tocopherols in soybean seeds. Tocopherols are a family of compounds that prevent cells from free radicals, highly reactive atoms or groups of atoms that can damage important cellular components such as DNA and cell membrane. The family includes alpha-tocopherol, the active form of vitamin E in humans.

Steven Britz and colleagues analyzed the content of tocopherols in soybean seeds grown at several locations in Maryland between 1999 and 2002. Weather was relatively normal between 1999 and 2001, but extreme drought and warmer temperatures characterized 2002. The researchers found that under extreme drought conditions in 2002, early maturing lines had as much as a 3.5-fold increase in relative alpha-tocopherol content, compared to the other years during which rainfall was adequate.

According to the researchers, the study shows how nutritional properties of crops can be dramatically affected by weather and potentially by climate change.

Read the full article at http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=1261

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BRAZIL'S CTNBIO APPROVES NEW GM CORN
CTNBio, the Brazilian National Biosafety Technical Committee, has approved the genetically modified corn Herculex I for commercial release in Brazil. The transgenic corn was jointly developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred and Dow AgroSciences. It is resistant to a broad spectrum of insect pests which feed on Brazilian corn, including the fall armyworm and sugarcane borer. The GM corn must still be approved by Brazil's Agriculture Ministry and the National Biosafety Council (CNBS) before it can be planted.

Herculex I is the sixth genetically modified variety of corn approved for commercial release in Brazil. CTNBio approved the cultivation of three transgenic corn lines, Monsanto's YieldGard, Bayer's LibertyLink and Syngenta's Bt 11, late last year. The Committee's President, Walter Colli, noted that the commercial releases issued in Brazil so far are for products that are already in use in other countries for more than 10 years.

Read the press release (in Portuguese) at http://agenciact.mct.gov.br/index.php/content/view/50013.html

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SOYBEAN TO RESIST ROUNDWORM WITH ITS OWN GENE
Soybean cyst nematodes (SCN) is one of the most devastating pest of soybean in the USA that leads to around US$1 billion loses annually. The nematodes are wormlike pests that live in the soil that feed, mate and lay eggs on soybean roots leading to the obstruction of nutrient and water flow to the rest of the plant. Chemical control is costly and resistant varieties are available but virulent new races eventually develop, thus SCN is hardly controlled.

The United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service plant pathologist Ben Matthews and colleagues in Beltsville, Maryland explored the use of biotechnology to possibly control the pest. They engineered soybean plants to contain a DNA copy of one of the nematode's own protein-making genes. Nematodes that ingest the DNA copy will deactivate the expression of the pest's corresponding gene leading to the arrest of its own protein-making machinery. Greenhouse trials in the Soybean Genomics and Improvement Laboratoy in Beltsville showed that 80% to 90% of the juvenile female nematodes that fed on transgenic soybean roots died or failed to mature by 30 days. Further studies are focused on another greenhouse trial and a search for the identity of the SCN protein gene using Caenorharbditis elegans.

See press release at http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=1261 for more details

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is seeking public comment on a petition submitted by Pioneer Hi-Bred International to deregulate a genetically modified (GM) corn variety resistant to glyphosate herbicides and acetolactate synthase-inhibiting herbicides. APHIS has regulated the corn, designated as line 98140, through its biotechnology notification and permitting process since 2005. If APHIS grants the petition for deregulation, the GM corn and its progeny can be planted freely without the requirement of permits. APHIS said that scientific evidence indicates that there are unlikely to be any environmental, human health or food safety concerns associated with the GE corn.

Visit http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/content/2008/12/ge_corn.shtml for more information.

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The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded University of California Davis a three-year $6.8 million grant for a plant genome project that could speed up the development of wheat varieties with improved grain quality and nutrition, higher yield, resistance to pests and diseases, and tolerance to adverse climatic conditions. The project received the largest award from the NSF Plant Genome Program this year.

Jan Dvorak and colleagues seeks to construct a physical map of one of the three genomes making up the chromosome complement of wheat, a mammoth task considering the size of the plant's genome. Each of the three wheat genomes, for instance, is larger than the genome of rice. Physical maps represent the location of genes and other landmarks along a chromosome. Scientists use landmarks known as sequence-tagged site (STS) to help them find their way around the genome. STS are stretches of DNA, usually a few hundred basepairs long, which is found in only one place in the genome.

"Instead of producing a physical map of wheat chromosomes directly, the chromosomes of Aegilops tauschii, one of the three ancestors of wheat and the source of its D genome, will be mapped first," Dvorak said. "These maps will then be used as templates in physical mapping of individual chromosomes of the wheat D genome, which is one of the specific objectives of this project."

Read more at http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8902

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Monsanto announced that it has entered into an agreement with Britain-based Plant Health Care PLC for the commercialization of harpin-based technology as a seed treatment in Monsanto's major row crops and vegetables. Harpin is a specific type of protein produced in nature by certain plant pathogens. It elicits the plant's intrinsic ability to protect itself and enhances growth. Harpin has been shown to activate the salicylic acid-dependent and jasmonic acid-induced pathway, both of which are involved in plant defense, enhance plant nutrient uptake and increase net photosynthesis. Because harpin does not interact directly with pests, nor does it alter the DNA of treated plants, pests are not expected to develop resistance to it.

Under the long-term agreement, Plant Health Care will license Monsanto the exclusive rights to commercialize harpin seed treatment technology in corn, soybeans, cotton, canola and selected vegetables. In return, Plant Health Care will get a milestone payment plus ongoing royalties based on the volume of harpin seed treatment. Monsanto seeds treated with Harpin may be available to farmers as part of its Acceleron brand seed treatment by 2010.

View the press release at http://monsanto.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=672

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ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
GM WHEAT AND BARLEY WITH ALTERED GRAIN STARCH COMPOSITION
Australia's Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) is currently assessing license application from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) to intentionally release genetically modified (GM) wheat and barley lines into the environment. If approved, the trial will be conducted in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) on a maximum area of 1 ha between July 2009 and June 2012. The GM lines contain two partial genes from wheat involved in grain starch biosynthesis, as well as the antibiotic resistance genes hpt and nptII. CSIRO is bound to adopt certain measures to restrict the dissemination of GM plant materials, such as surrounding the trial site with a pollen trap and postharvest monitoring of fields.

Some products made from the GM wheat and barley may be fed to rats and pigs in controlled laboratory experiments. Products containing GM wheat from this trial may also be consumed by a small group of volunteers as part of a carefully controlled nutritional study.

For more information, contact ogtr@health.gov.au or visithttp://www.ogtr.gov.au/internet/ogtr/publishing.nsf/Content/dir093

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BIOTECH HELPS FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE
Biotechnology can help Australian farmers to remain viable despite the effects of a changing climate. Australia's Bureau of Rural Sciences (BRS) makes this conclusion in a report on "Australia's crops and pastures in a changing climate: can biotechnology help?"

"There are a number of plant traits likely to be important for adapting to climate change, including heat tolerance, water and nitrogen use efficiency, and pest and disease resistance," says Karen Schneider, BRS Executive Director. "Techniques, such as genetic modification (GM), are increasingly playing an important role in the development of new crop and pasture varieties with these traits."

To download a copy of the report visit http://www.brs.gov.au. A media release is available at http://www.daff.gov.au/about/media-centre/brs-releases/2008/biotechnology_is_helping_the_fight_against_climate_change

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INDONESIAN SCIENTISTS ON BIOTECH FOODS
Consumer concerns seriously jeopardize the future market success of modern biotechnology products, including genetically modified (GM) food products. Scientists are themselves a consumer group. However, compared to general consumers, scientists are more knowledgeable about GM foods. Scientists are also expected to provide information for decision makers with regards to policy related to GM products. Furthermore, they are also the first group to react if any unsafe GM food enters the market. Indirectly, they help all consumers to be protected.

A study to assess the attitudes of scientists (i.e. whether they agree or disagree) about GM foods, and associated matters was conducted by researchers of  the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education, Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network and the Research Triangle Institute, Indonesia. They found that of 400 scientists from Bogor Agricultural University,  84% believed their peers to be capable of assessing the benefits and risks of GM foods. Most of them (72%) disagreed that the likely risks of GM foods are greater than the benefits. The author also suggests that scientists and other relevant parties can be expected to persuade government about the need for food labeling regulations. 

Further study is recommended to address labeling issues as they affect scientists and consumers. The abstract of this research can be found at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17468097 or send email to J. Februhartanty at jfebruhartanty@seameo-rccn.org for more details. For information on biotechnology in Indonesia, contact Dewi Suryani at dewisuryani@biotrop.org

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BANGLADESHI BIOTECHNOLOGISTS ORGANIZE ROUNDTABLE WITH JOURNALISTS
Consumer concerns seriously jeopardize the future market success of modern biotechnology products, including genetically modified (GM) food products. Scientists are themselves a consumer group. However, compared to general consumers, scientists are more knowledgeable about GM foods. Scientists are also expected to provide information for decision makers with regards to policy related to GM products. Furthermore, they are also the first group to react if any unsafe GM food enters the market. Indirectly, they help all consumers to be protected.

A study to assess the attitudes of scientists (i.e. whether they agree or disagree) about GM foods, and associated matters was conducted by researchers of  the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education, Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network and the Research Triangle Institute, Indonesia. They found that of 400 scientists from Bogor Agricultural University,  84% believed their peers to be capable of assessing the benefits and risks of GM foods. Most of them (72%) disagreed that the likely risks of GM foods are greater than the benefits. The author also suggests that scientists and other relevant parties can be expected to persuade government about the need for food labeling regulations. 

Further study is recommended to address labeling issues as they affect scientists and consumers. The abstract of this research can be found at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17468097 or send email to J. Februhartanty at jfebruhartanty@seameo-rccn.org for more details. For information on biotechnology in Indonesia, contact Dewi Suryani at dewisuryani@biotrop.org

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EUROPE
RR 2 YIELD SOYBEAN GETS EU APPROVAL
The European Union has approved Monsanto’s Roundup Ready2Yield soybean for use in feed and food across its 27 nations for the next 10 years. The glyphosate-resistant soybean, however, is not intended to be grown in Europe's fields. The approval follows the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) scientific opinion concluding that the GM soybean "is unlikely to have any adverse effect on human and animal health or on the environment". EU laws allow GMO approvals if Council Ministers fail to reach a consensus under a complicated weighed voting system.

"The European Union regulatory approval demonstrates the growing acceptance of Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans throughout the world," said Brett Begemann, Monsanto's executive vice president of global commercial business. Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans have been approved in countries such as Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

In September, the European Commission approved imports of Bayer CropScience’s herbicide-tolerant LibertyLink soybeans (A 2704-12).

For more information, visit http://www.monsanto.com/

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EFSA: AUSTRIA’S GM MAIZE BAN UNJUSTIFIED
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Scientific Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms concludes, once again, that Austria has presented no new scientific evidence that would justify a ban on two transgenic maize varieties. Since June 1999, Austria had prohibited the placing on the market of the EU-authorized maize events MON810 and T25 from the Monsanto and Bayer companies and justified this decision with reasons of health protection.

Austria invoked Article 16 of Directive 90/220/EEC (safeguard clause) to provisionally prohibit the import, processing and cultivation of the GM maize lines in its territory in May 2000. The European Commission requested EFSA earlier this year to define whether the information submitted by Austria comprises new information that would affect the environmental risk assessment for the uses of the GM maize varieties.

EFSA included in its assessment a widely promoted, controversial study conducted by Jurgen Zuntek and colleagues at the University of Vienna. The scientists allegedly found a link between GM maize (NK603 x Mon810) and infertility in laboratory mice. EFSA noted that methods used in the study are not routinely used for the safety assessment of whole foods and feeds. The GMO Panel also identified various deficiencies in data reporting, methodologies and statistical calculations, which do not allow any interpretation. "EFSA considers that these data do not invalidate the conclusions of the GMO Panel on the safety of MON810 maize.”

Download EFSA’s Scientific Opinion

at http://www.efsa.europa.eu/cs/BlobServer/Scientific_Opinion/gmo_op_ej891_austrian_safeg_
clause_MON810_T25_maize_en.pdf?ssbinary=true

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EU COURT FINES FRANCE FOR DELAYING GMO LAW
The European Union Court of Justice has ordered France to pay a 10 million euros (US $13 million) fine for failing to update its laws on genetically modified organisms and foods. France’s refusal to implement the European Union’s GMO law is “unlawful” says the Luxembourg-based court and that it “finds that the breach serious, especially in the light of its impact on the public and private interests involved”.

France argued that it couldn’t adopt the GMO laws because of “internal difficulties” including violent anti-GMO demonstrations. The EU court, however, rejected those arguments. The country has begun implementing the GMO rules in July this year, nearly six years after the October 2002 deadline that the EU had set.

The press release is available at http://curia.europa.eu/en/actu/communiques/cp08/aff/cp080087en.pdf

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Research
THE SEARCH FOR ABA RECEPTORS CONTINUES
In 2006, a paper ‘made a splash’ in the plant biology world by identifying the elusive protein receptor of the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA). The paper, published by the prestigious journal Nature, showed that FCA - an RNA binding protein involved in flowering - binds to ABA with high affinity. The study has been cited 120 times, and is the most highly cited paper among the 95 results for 'abscisic acid receptor' in the past three years. Nature is now retracting the paper after reports that the work could not be replicated.

ABA regulates various physiological processes such as stomatal closure, bud dormancy and seed germination. Being a stress hormone, ABA is a target for scientists hoping to develop drought and salinity-tolerant crops. Identification of ABA receptors will significantly advance the development of stress-proof plants and the retraction is a setback in the search to find ABA targets.

Two other ABA receptors have been reported, the plastid-associated Mg-cheltase H subunit and a protein originally identified as a membrane-bound G-protein-coupled receptor 2, using methods similar to those used in the retracted paper. Scientists now question the role of these proteins as ABA receptors.

Read the summary article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/456683a The original (retracted) paper can be downloaded athttp://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature04373 and the paper questioning this study is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature07646

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SCIENTISTS FIND UV-B RECEPTOR IN PLANT ROOTS
Scientists at the San Francisco State University and Carnegie Institute of Washington in the U.S. discovered that plant roots can sense ultraviolet-B (UV-B) light and have identified a specific gene that is a vital player in UV-B signaling. The researchers found that the gene RUS1 measures UV-B light levels and passes this information on to other parts of the plant responsible for growth and development.

It’s quite unusual that roots should have UV-B light sensors. But these sensors are important for young plants whose roots are resting on the soil surface. RUS1 is responsible for ensuring that seedlings grow normally even if their roots are exposed to UV-B light. Plants with mutated RUS1 become hypersensitive to UV-B and even under low intensity levels of UV-B light, their root growth is stunted and they fail to grow leaves.

The article was published in the Early Edition of PNAS. Read more at http://www.sfsu.edu/news/ and http://www.pnas.org/content/early/recent

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NATURAL SELECTION OF GENE FUNCTION DRIVES RETROTRANSPOSON EVOLUTION IN RICE
Transposons are small stretches of DNA that can move around to different positions in the genome of a single cell, and in the process dramatically increasing a genome's size. For years, researchers thought that most of this DNA was passive "junk" and knew little about it. New findings, however, are peeling back the odd and baffling world of transposons. Scientists at the University of Georgia found that natural selection on gene function is driving the evolution of one kind of transposable element called the LTR retrotransposon (LTR-R). LTR-R are a subclass of transposons particularly abundant in plants that replicate by reverse transcription (using an RNA intermediate in replication).

The researchers analyzed the patterns of genetic variation among LTR-R in rice “to investigate the type of selective forces that potentially limit their amplification and subsequent population of a nuclear genome.” They found that LTR-R are under significant evolutionary constraint, by finding strong purifying selection on genes involved in their replication and life-cycle. They also discovered that, regardless of the family that any the LTR-R sequences might belong, they show similar "life-histories."

“What the scientists found helps explain why these elements can, while lying quiet for millions of years, suddenly amplify within genomes while not causing more long-term harm than to take up space,” noted lead researcher Regina Baucom.

Read the paper at http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/gr.083360.108

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Announcements
SOCIO-ECONOMICS CONFERENCE ON GM IN THAILAND
The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), in collaboration with the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI, Washington DC), will conduct a two-day international conference titled, "Measures of Hope and Promises Delivered: An International Conference on Socioeconomic and Environmental Impact Assessment of Genetically Modified (GM) Crops." It will be held on April 21-22, 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The conference aims to provide a better understanding of the methodologies, tools, insights, and experiences in examining the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of adopting biotechnology applications, particularly GM crops. It will also examine the factors that encourage or hinder the development and diffusion of new agricultural biotechnologies, and the institutional arrangements and/or policy environment influencing them.

For more details, contact Dr. Arnulfo Garcia at agg@agri.searca.org or Roberta Gerpacio at rvg@agri.searca.org



The Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC) is organizing a seminar on “Achieving self sufficiency in agricultural production and nutrition” on 20 December 2008 in Mumbai, India. The program aims to discuss topics relevant to food security including increasing production and productivity of grains, horticulture, oilseeds, pulses and cotton. The program will also deliberate on the prospects of GM crops and regulatory and policy reforms in India.

For program details visit http://www.imcnet.org/PDF/invitation%20Final.pdf or email Mr. Varun Miglani at varun@imcnet.org.


The 10th International Cotton Conference will be held in Gdynia, Poland on September 3-4, 2009. Participants from all over the world are expected to take part in this important, bi-annual cotton event. With the theme “Natural Fibers - Their Attractiveness in Multidirectional Applications”, the conference will coincide with the International Year of Natural Fibers.

Visit the conference website at http://www.gca.org.pl/x.php/2,326/10th-International-Cotton-Conference.html for more information
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DOCUMENT REMINDERS
BARWALE AUTOBIOGRAPHY
India’s seed man and philanthropist, Dr B.R. Barwale released his autobiography “My Journey with Seeds and the Development of Indian Seed Industry” on December 2, 2008 at Indian Merchants’ Chamber, Mumbai. His autobiography highlights his journey with seeds, growth and development of the Indian seed industry over five decades. He also narrates his autobiographical sketch, experiences with the seed industry in his home state Maharashtra, opportunities in seed production and challenges to move the seed industry forward in India. The book also captures his own journey of life, his interest in agriculture, the birth of Mahyco, R&D of seeds, vegetable seed industry, seed associations, entry of multinationals, and his involvement in social philanthropy.

For a copy of the book contact Mr. Dinesh C. Joshi at dineshjoshi@barwalefoundation.org or Ms. Aban Kapadia at aban.kapadia@mahyco.com. More information about Barwale family, Barwale Foundation and Mahyco at http://www.barwalefoundation.org/ and http://www.mahyco.com/


The Asia-Pacific Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology (APCoAB) and Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions have published a technical bulletin entitled “Production and Cultivation of Virus-Free Citrus Samplings for Citrus Rehabilitation in Taiwan”. The bulletin, authored by Hong-Ji Su of the National Taiwan University, provides detailed methods and protocols for the production of disease-free planting material in citrus, including disease indexing, production of virus-free nursery, cultivation and health management of saplings in orchards.

Download the bulletin at http://www.apaari.org/new/images/AP_Documents/Pub_Reports/APCoAB/2008-citrus.pdf

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