tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33346039651834942892024-02-20T13:04:29.185-08:00APAARI - Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research InstitutionsAPAARIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12893026778093062247noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3334603965183494289.post-64313604968361365162018-04-17T01:23:00.002-07:002018-04-17T01:26:00.791-07:00Cryopreservation of plant genetic resources for biodiversity conservation and sustainable food security<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Food crises have been
at the origin of many social strives around the world leading to loss of lives,
property and even change in regimes. Political science and current events are
living testimonies to these incidents. Governments built on the precept of the
social contract and a host of international organizations are burning the mid
night oil to ensure that there is not just food on the table but that science
is pushed to its limits to </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">advance human development
by improving the quality, quantity and the availability of food in the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">According to the Sustainable Development Goal Progress Report for 2017, ending
hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition for all, will require continued and
focused efforts notably in Asia and Africa. To attain the desired results, canalized
efforts should be hinged on increasing capacity for agricultural productivity, more
investments in agriculture, government spending and aid to increase capacity
for agricultural productivity. Unfortunately, the general economic meltdown
and the galloping world population especially in Africa and Asia, are not
making things easier. But researchers are folding their sleeves as they
continue to search for more innovative methods to improve production. But the
worrying issue is whether the small-holder farmers who make of the bulk of the
farming community in Africa and Asia are taken into consideration in this
scientific rat race? The task that lies ahead is difficult but not
insurmountable.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">Down the line, nature and
man-made activities like urbanization, agriculture, deforestation, climate
change and wars have been taking their toll on the rich biodiversity endowment
of the world. <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">This picture is in stake contrast
with the creation narrative in the Bible</span></span><span class="verse-1"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">
that walks us back to the rich biodiversity God gave humanity at creation.</span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"> According to studies [BGCI</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"> (2005). (</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.bgci.org/">http://www.bgci.org</a></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">) more than
one third of all the world's plant species, are currently threatened or face
extinction. Fortunately, diverse efforts are
on-going to salvage the despicable situation and science is the live wire to
this salvation drive.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Science-based agricultural innovation</span></b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Science-based innovative options for agriculture
may be the magic wane especially for Africa and Asia that are in the melee of high
population density, declining availability of fertile lands and water; a
mission that the Asia- Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institution
-APAARI and a host of partner institutions have taken up as they are aground
synergizing efforts to improving the quantity and quality of agri-food
production in the region. International, regional and even national think
thanks are working round the clock to be part of the solution to the scarcity
of food in particular and the dwindling biodiversity in general.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Tissue
culture Gene bank (National Center for genetic engineering) <span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">Pathum Thani-Thailand</span></span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"><br /></span></span></i>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As March 2018 was waning, o</span><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">ne
hundred plus plant cryopreservation scientists and researchers from 25
countries met for three days in Bangkok, Thailand to contribute their quarter to
</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">improving the quality and quantity food in the world through
conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources.</span><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> According to the conveyor of the 3-day
symposium, Prof. Sittiwat Lertsiri, it was an occasion to “share recent
advanced knowledge and information on plant cryopreservation and create an engagement
among researchers and scholars from research and educational institutes as well
as industries”. In the words of Dr. Bart Panis, the more than sixty per cent of
plant cryopreservation community answered present as scientists dealing with
more </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">fundamental science, those
developing cryopreservation protocols and plant germplasm curators were in
attendance.</span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">These horticultural
scientists and researchers were meeting for the third time in this type of forum
in the last ten years (Leuven 2009, Fort Collins 2013), to compare notes,
exchange ideas and results in improving plant preservation in particular and
biodiversity in general through conservation.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> According to Dr. Bart Panis, Senior Researcher at Bioversity
International, the last ten years have seen large varieties of plants being
cryopreserved and the efforts have to be on-going because the task is enormous.</span><br />
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">CryoSynp 2018 participants at Thani Rice
Research Centre, Pathum Thani, Thailand</span></i></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The choice of Thailand
as the host country was not a gamble. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Asia-Pacific region harnesses one-fifth of
the world’s agricultural land is home to more than half of the global
population<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">. The pressure on
biodiversity is, therefore, enormous as endemic species are disappearing and
fertile land is more scare. These men of science were in concave to make their
contribution to the regional efforts. Evaluating
agricultural strides in the region, the Executive</span> Secretary of APAARI,<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"> Dr. Ravi Khetarpal,</span> says there
has been remarkable production improvements over the past few decades though
the region is still struggling with depleting resources including water,
deteriorating soil quality, inadequate logistics and inefficient farming
practices and land usage. As climate change and human activities are adversely
affecting biodiversity in general and agriculture in particular,
cryopreservation may be the safe haven of ensuring that future generations
equally enjoy the bounty of nature.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Saving biodiversity for the future.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It is true that cryopreservation
has been making inroads into the preservation of many threatened species but it
has been a bumpy ride for these men and women of science. Scientists like Professor Hugh Pritchard have
thirty years up his sleeves working on recalcitrant seeds says there is need to
pull experience together to look for long term solutions. These recalcitrant
species mostly from the tropics and sub-tropics difficult are to be dried and
are unable to be stored at low temperatures. Unfortunately, these plants are
the livewire of most of the people of these regions (coffee, oil palm,
potatoes, cassava, yams). He believes advances in the domain have been slow. According
to him, the slowdown is because cryopreservation developed by individuals in
single laboratories in different countries. In order to advance the science for
quicker returns, he suggests the pooling skills and knowledge in a platform Cryonet
for useful and quicker advances in science. To Professor Bart, the
philosopher’s stone for recalcitrant seeds is for researchers to develop and
optimize techniques.</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Gene bank (Department of Agriculture), Pathum
Thani,Thailand</span></i></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The third International Symposium on Plant Cryopreservation, featured
top notch research and poster presentations as well as rich debates and merit
was equally recognized. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Miriam Valle Arizaga
and team of ten from Japan received the best research award while the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">poster
by Tagrid Imsomboon and team from
Mahidol University won the admiration of the scientific committee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It was not just
debate and debate but also seeing and enjoying the science as</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">
the participants also saw first-hand how the country is managing its plant
cryopreservation by visiting the National Gene bank at DOA . Established in 1986, thousands of plants are
conserved here among which are hundreds of varieties and landraces of rice,
many of which are in danger of disappearing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Before the curtains dropped on the 3<sup>rd</sup>
Cryopreservation Symposium, the plant cryopreservation family agreed to meet
next in Norway come 2021.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /><i>By: Fai Collins Dzernyuy<br />Knowledge Management Coordinator</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>APAARIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12893026778093062247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3334603965183494289.post-41369339116953972702017-11-01T23:23:00.002-07:002017-11-01T23:23:32.532-07:00Agriculture’s doctor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhejBgaI2CarizXsWjv6pxBCojq4g_I1Na4BnvI6e6wZEzCqDzRB3okOQUva2hgz1Mjqg8RzMXwPrBg__TpqtFQopd807UJdzoiUH5ub82iNQxbJE5lxBzcn82jyvafyER8GTVeq7BRmb8/s1600/pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="846" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhejBgaI2CarizXsWjv6pxBCojq4g_I1Na4BnvI6e6wZEzCqDzRB3okOQUva2hgz1Mjqg8RzMXwPrBg__TpqtFQopd807UJdzoiUH5ub82iNQxbJE5lxBzcn82jyvafyER8GTVeq7BRmb8/s320/pic.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<em>“The goal of life is not to eliminate misery, it’s to keep misery to the minimum.” – Dr. Gregory House in House MD</em></div>
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Let’s be realistic. Plants, similar to animals and humans, are susceptible to sickness too, and this is often brought on by pests. Often overlooked, pest management is a serious threat to plant health all over the world. </div>
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Let’s take the example of the now well-known fall army worm or FAW, which originated in South America and recently spread to some parts of West Africa and soon perhaps Asia. It’s a moth insect that feed on several plant species including maize, rice, sorghum and other vegetables, causing plant damage and huge losses to farmers in the region.</div>
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Did you know there is partnership supporting small-scale farmers in dealing with this crucial issue in agriculture?</div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">Organizations like</span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"> </span><a href="http://www.cabi.org/" style="color: rgb(13, 108, 172) !important; font-size: 14.4px; outline: none !important; text-decoration-line: none;">CABI</a><span style="font-size: 14.4px;">,</span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"> </span><a href="https://www.ifad.org/" style="color: rgb(13, 108, 172) !important; font-size: 14.4px; outline: none !important; text-decoration-line: none;">IFAD</a><span style="font-size: 14.4px;">,</span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"> </span><a href="https://croplife.org/" style="color: rgb(13, 108, 172) !important; font-size: 14.4px; outline: none !important; text-decoration-line: none;">CropLife International</a><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;">and the</span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"> </span><a href="http://www.moai.gov.mm/" style="color: rgb(13, 108, 172) !important; font-size: 14.4px; outline: none !important; text-decoration-line: none;">Ministry of Agriculture, Myanmar</a><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;">shared their positions on the best strategies for strengthening their bilateral or multilateral partnerships, including with farmers. Let me give you some of the brief agricultural prescriptions from the invited speakers: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">M</span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;">yanmar’s Ministry of Agriculture said that their policy is having no policy at all. They believe that policies are very inconsistent because institutional change that comes with new policies requires organizational restructuring as well. They break the same cycle of working in silos among involved actors and with this are focused on supporting the farmers to have access to agricultural resources, technology and market access. </span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"><br />IFAD defined partnership as results-oriented. They have targeted programs to contribute towards achieving SDGs and are working primarily with different sectors in the government and also in the private sector. One of the strategies mentioned is a switch of work from a top-down approach to on-the-ground, or simply from country level to country-based level.</span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">CropLife International cited that strategic partnership is necessary and must be allowed to evolve. To achieve this it must be recognized that partnerships should help innovation be locally adaptable. Furthermore, partnership should include training and education. Most importantly, partnership must be profitable. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">These statements from top agricultural organizations are basically</span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"> </span><em style="font-size: 14.4px;">behind-the-screen</em><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;">techniques to go back to the farmer MD who knows best. Farmers’ approach—both pro-active and reactive—to pest-related plant health issues is what the doctor ordered.</span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">But sometimes the farmers can’t do it alone. Plant Wise, a programme by CABI created to support farmers in managing their crops, brings them advice and recommendations from plant doctors who diagnose the sample plant diseases, similar to diagnosing a human being. It also provides an online and offline knowledge bank, a database of information about plant health.</span></div>
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The multistakeholder approach to learning the genesis of the plant disease based on the findings of scientists, researchers, NGOs and farmers’ organizations, will make more room to protect the crops. This should eventually lead to a productive, safe and more sustainable food supply.</div>
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<em style="font-size: 14.4px;">“Doing things changes things. Not doing things leaves things exactly as they were.” - </em><em style="font-size: 14.4px;"> Dr. Gregory House in House MD</em></div>
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Multi-sector effort and trust from various organizations to deal with global disasters like the FAW invasion is imperative not only to those countries that were affected but to all regions with reliance on agriculture. But aside from dealing with the control of the spread of these plant-killing moths, why not invest in controlling how they populate and exist? I would suggest involving more entomologists in the picture, as we all know that pro-active measures are far more important than reacting to the situation when a disaster strikes. Just like going for regular doctor visits can help avoid chronic diseases from setting in. Let’s hope that there will be another programme of global partnership dealing with how these insects mate, populate and migrate from one place to another so as to avoid crop damage and agricultural loss.</div>
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Strong partnership promises more than what it offers at the present. Partnership approaches should also go back to examine what the world really needs to understand, apart from just knowing and accepting things that recently occur.</div>
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Food consumption is vital to human health and food production is dependent on plant health. Let’s make sure we get the prognosis right, and not just the diagnosis. </div>
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<em>This blogpost covers the CFS44 side event “How Cross-Sectoral Partnerships Help Smallholders Deliver a More Food Secure Future”</em></div>
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<em>Blogpost by Celilu Bitong, #CFS44 Social Reporter – c.bitong(at)apaari.org</em></div>
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Image link: <a href="https://blog.achievecentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/hands-holding-new-plant-in-soil-promoting-teamwork-846x564.jpg" style="color: rgb(13, 108, 172) !important; outline: none !important; text-decoration-line: none;">Hands together</a></div>
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<em>This post is part of the live coverage during the 44th Session of the Committee on World Food Security, a social media project supported by </em><a href="http://www.gfar.org/" style="color: rgb(13, 108, 172) !important; outline: none !important; text-decoration-line: none;"><em>GFAR</em></a><em>. This post is written by one of our social reporters, and represents the author’s views only.</em></div>
APAARIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12893026778093062247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3334603965183494289.post-85995059942068673122017-11-01T23:16:00.003-07:002017-11-01T23:19:27.182-07:00Agriculture’s got talent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV96t0m8N0kyLNi0kJ1IA0A99qaUcMtEXuHih9oobiko_mhNb_pWQ4Kx5blWabj6w3yu8ZssYsq0MjiiPhRClTXYYtR_WdfH6FwXthCQeid5tUw8Cw0P1ZTuq8TI8rVPv6wcWMvek-55g/s1600/pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="1335" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV96t0m8N0kyLNi0kJ1IA0A99qaUcMtEXuHih9oobiko_mhNb_pWQ4Kx5blWabj6w3yu8ZssYsq0MjiiPhRClTXYYtR_WdfH6FwXthCQeid5tUw8Cw0P1ZTuq8TI8rVPv6wcWMvek-55g/s320/pic.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "open sans" , "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">During a side event to CFS44, invited young agricultural leaders shared their common experiences and insights about the SDG challenges they faced. They provided some advice and answers concerning a global phenomenon: the loss of interest of youth in agriculture. </span><span style="clear: left; display: inline !important; font-size: 14.4px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: start;">It was a discussion of success stories from agricultural entrepreneurs, the majority of whom inherited their skills and passion from their family. Can their points of view be relatable and effective enough to motivate an aspiring startup commoner to endeavor into agriculture? They have their stories shared and conversed in hopes of enlightening and giving proper direction to anyone who is willing to invest in agriculture, even though they’re from a family that never had to make their livelihoods on skilled labor. </span><br />
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From my experience in Asia, youth has financial barriers and limited credits, a real difficulty to young farmers. Research is not properly introduced to youth, making it hard for them to understand the value of technology. Stories like the ones that were told in the side event, on how basic skills can be enough to take practical leadership, training of diverse skills, and also creating linkages between young and established farmers for the purpose of learning and exposure—these should perhaps not be taken at face value.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">Panelists presented strategies to motivate youth, including partnerships with corporate or private firms to create awareness in early stages, like developing surveys about where their food comes from, or a promotional campaign on how agriculture would appear “cool” from their standpoints. But on the more practical side, two farmers with family businesses mentioned monitoring the soil quality and erosion management as well. These last are some of the collective concerns shared by the agricultural entrepreneurs who, in the majority, possess skills and talents in the said field because it’s a family business.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">W</span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;">hat if somebody doesn’t come from a family with ready-made land ownership and inherited talents? Can they succeed to profit from this field? An interview I did with two of the speakers revealed that their passion to make an impact and improve their country’s situation are good enough reasons to pursue agriculture business, even if their families are in not in farming. But can they become </span><em style="font-size: 14.4px;">successful</em><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"> at it? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">Out of the eight agricultural entrepreneurs five of them are from a family farming business. Two are complete strangers in the field, yet they managed to succeed. Hence, it made me question, are the odds of success in agriculture in favor of those from farming families? I think so. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">Agriculture is a legacy, its success runs in the blood and its failure lies in it too. It’s for a good reason that we say that children absorb everything at a young age. Take for example a struggling farmer father who couldn’t afford to educate his children, what amount of space can agriculture occupy in their lives? Even a book about Rich Dad / Poor Dad of many volumes, or Paulo Coelho in Agribusiness won’t motivate them. Sadly, agriculture is a business, and one learned in the fields. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">We need to support the existing farmer fathers and grandfathers before jumping to the younger generations. The loss of interest in youth about agriculture comes primarily from their initial environment, and that is the family. Motivating agricultural aspirants through education like school farming, tree planting, modernized visual aids to promote the importance of farming won’t work totally 100% for urban youth, especially if they enjoy playing SIMS farming instead—it’s easy with no dirt involved. Youth prefers convenience nowadays, even if they live in the mountainside. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">What today’s young agricultural leaders are experiencing are difficulties to keep the businesses despite their advantage among the others who aren’t skilled, and have no land access and entitlements. What tomorrow’s supposed agricultural leaders will meet along the way are strangers, as they continue to migrate from one place to another to get away from farming. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">Motivating youth to stay in or return to agriculture through education may or may not work. But it is paramount for any approach to take into account the starting point for agricultural passion. Rich talents are acquired through birth and not learned at a later age, and it’s the only thing that is passed through generations and lasts a long time. Success stories in farming happen when the legacy of farming is passed from one generation to another.</span></div>
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<span style="clear: left; font-size: 14.4px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><em style="font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;">This blogpost covers the CFS44 side event “What today’s young agricultural leaders need to meet tomorrow’s SDG challenges"</em><br style="font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;" /><br style="font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;" /><em style="font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;">Blogpost by Celilu Bitong, #CFS44 Social Reporter – c.bitong(at)apaari.org</em><br style="font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;" /><br style="font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;" /><em style="font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;">This post is part of the live coverage during the 44rd Session of the Committee on World Food Security, a social media project supported by GFAR. This post is written by one of our social reporters, and represents the author’s views only.</em> </span></div>
APAARIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12893026778093062247noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3334603965183494289.post-69023220718125848572016-02-11T20:01:00.003-08:002016-02-11T20:01:45.152-08:00High Level Policy Dialogue on Investment in Agricultural Research for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific, 8-9 December 2015, Bangkok, Thailand<h1>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Reflections and Way Forward</span></h1>
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Despite growing evidence that greater investment in agricultural research and innovation for development (ARI4D) has a key role to play in increasing agricultural production and strengthening food security, evidence also shows that such investments are insufficient to meet future needs for addressing key hunger and poverty concerns that the Asia-Pacific region is facing. To feed more than 9 billion people by 2050 and ensure the well-being of future generations, investments in ARI4D need to increase. But decision-making on future investments in this area has now shifted to also take political, economic and business considerations into account and is expected to intensify in the future. New ways to advocate and attract investment in ARI4D are therefore urgently needed.<br />
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To help address this issue, the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), in collaboration with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Department of Agriculture (DOA), Thailand, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-RAP), Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), organized the <strong>High Level Policy Dialogue on Investment in Agricultural Research for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific (HLPD)</strong>. The event attended by about 131 participants took place on 8-9 December 2015 in Bangkok, Thailand. Syngenta and the Agricultural Research Technology Institute, Chinese Taipei, also partnered in the event.<br />
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The Dialogue provided a platform for discussing the direction, needs and mechanisms to improve investments in areas such as finance, infrastructure, capacity development and policy support in ARI4D, which also includes agricultural extension and education. The event particularly aimed to catalyze policy and decision makers, re-sensitize the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) and create an environment for increased resource allocation and congenial policy environment for agricultural research and innovation that greatly contributes to sustainable development of the Asia-Pacific region.<br />
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At the closing of the High Level Policy Dialogue on Investment in Agricultural Research for Sustainable Development in the Asia-Pacific Region, Mr. David Shearer, General Manager, Corporate, ACIAR and Dr. Raghunath Ghodake, Executive Secretary, APAARI, shared their reflections on the two-day event and presented the way forward. <a href="http://www.apaari.org/news/high-level-policy-dialogue-2015.html">Read more.</a></div>
APAARIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12893026778093062247noreply@blogger.com7