CURRENT ISSUE: July-August 2006, ACNS 07

What is Covered in this Issue

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• Research News and Updates

• New Publications and Reports

• Special Features

• Research Grants & Postgraduate Training Opportunities

• Announcements

• Upcoming Conferences

• Scientific Journals TOCs Update

• About The African Crops News Service!

• Disclaimer

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NEWS

Ugandan Scientist Wins Award at the African Rice Congress

Dr. George Bigirwa, a respected Ugandan plant pathologist and Head of the National Cereals Research Programme based at Namulonge Agricultural and Animal Research Institute in Uganda, was voted the overall winner of the “Best Scientist Paper” presented at the recently concluded African Rice Congress in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The paper discusses the performance of New Rice for Africa (NERICA) upland varieties in East Africa. Full story.

ACCI Announces Scholarships for PhD Training in Plant Breeding

The African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, announces PhD scholarships on Plant Breeding. The scholarship program  targets young and bright African scientists in eastern and southern Africa. Successful candidates will begin their studies in January 2007.  Interested applicants should send their CVs and letters of application by 30 August 2006 to Mrs Felicity de Stadler, email: destadlerf@ukzn.ac.za. Full announcement.

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NEW PUBLICATION

Bigirwa, G., Sseruwu, G., Kaaya, A.N., Adipala, E. and Okanya, S. 2006. Fungal microflora causing maize ear rots in Uganda and associated aflatoxins. Journal of Biological Sciences 6 (3): 540-546. Download abstract and full paper.

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FEATURE

Drought Wars: Promoting the Drought-Tolerant Maize in Eastern Kenya. CIMMYT in collaboration with KARI are undertaking participatory breeding, evaluation and seed production of drought-tolerant maize varieties in Eastern Kenya. The researchers are working with a local community group to promote community-based seed production of newly-released and open-pollinated varieties. Full story.

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RESEARCH GRANTS & POSTGRADUATE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

New DFID and BBSRC Joint Funding Scheme. The Department for International Development (DFID) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have a new joint funding scheme. The scheme aims to enhance the quality and impact of research in sustainable agriculture, improved natural resource management and food security in the developed and less developed world. Proposal concepts are due on 03 October 2006. Read announcement.

IDRC’s Rural Poverty and Environment (RPE) Program: The Program invites concept notes for research projects that will enhance good governance, equitable access to and sustainable management of common pool resources. Read call for concepts.

The Bentley Cropping Systems Fellowship,  IDRC. The Bentley Cropping Systems Fellowship provides assistance to Canadian and developing country graduate students with a university degree in Agriculture, Forestry or Biology, who wish to undertake post-graduate, applied on-farm research with cooperating farmers in a developing country. Call for applications.

PAG-XIV Conference Travel Grants. The Rockefeller Foundation will support five scientists from Africa to attend The International Plant and Genome Conference XV, 13–17 January 2007 in San Diego, USA. The awards are being coordinated by Dr. Katrien M. Devos, University of Georgia, Athens, USA, email: kdevos@uga.edu.  Application deadline is September 10th 2006. Full announcement. Information on the PAG meeting can be found at http://www.intl-pag.org.

Other Travel Grants to PAG XV. A number of organizations are offering travel grants to participants planning to attend PAG XV Conference. Applicants must apply by 06 October 2006. For more information, visit http://www.intl-pag.org/15/15-grants.html.   

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

East African Women’s Science Fellowships Winners. The Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)’s Gender and Diversity Program, announces 11 outstanding women scientists who were selected as winners of the East African Women’s Science fellowships funded by The Rockefeller Foundation’s Africa Regional Program and administered by the Gender & Diversity program. Full story and winners’ profiles

New Research Award for Cassava Genome Sequencing. The International Laboratory for Tropical Agricultural Biotechnology and Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, have received a research grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) to sequence and characterize cassava genome over the next year. Full story

Rice-Based Green Revolution in Africa. Read the summary of the proceedings and outcomes of the recently concluded Africa Rice Congress organized by the Africa Rice Center (WARDA) and the Tanzanian Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, 31 July - 4 August 2006, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Full story

Recently Funded Research on Millet and Sorghum in West Africa. A cluster of five crop research projects aimed at improving food and nutritional security in millet and sorghum based cropping systems of the West African Sahel was recently funded through The McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program (CCRP). Full story

Access to Agricultural Journals through LanTEEAL. The new local area network (LAN) version of The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library (TEEAL) enables seamless access to full-text articles and abstracts of 115 current journals in the agricultural sciences from the convenience of networked computers. LanTEEAL's collection is a subset of the original TEEAL collection chosen by 600 international scientists as highly relevant to work being carried out in the developing world. Browse database

Scientist of the Month. The African Crops News Service is introducing a new and special section called “Scientist of the Month” in recognition of the very important work carried out by various researchers and development specialists in improving African crops and seed systems. The newsletter will carry a short profile of a scientist nominated by his/her peers or organization. To nominate a candidate, kindly provide a one-paragraph description of recent accomplishment(s), a photo, a summary of the resume (half-page), recent 2-5 publications (with internet reference if possible) and full contact address. The Scientist of the Month will, in addition, receive a memento and be featured in the Africancrops.net website. The memento will be sent to the head of the scientist’s organization for registration and official presentation. The selected scientists will be supported to attend and make presentations in scientific conferences related to improvement of African crops. A committee of eminent crop scientists will assist in selecting winners. Nominations should be sent by email to: africancrops@wananchi.com.

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UPCOMING CONFERENCES

The International Plant and Genome Conference, PAG XV, 13–17 January 2007 in San Diego, USA.  Town & Country Convention Center, San Diego, California, http://www.intl-pag.org.

8th African Crop Science Society Conference, 27- 31 October 2007, El-Minia, Egypt. First announcement

International Rice Functional Genomics Symposium, Montpellier, France, 9-11 October 2006. Online registration and conference information.  Late registration open up to 30 September 2006.

The Fifth Plant Genomics European Meeting (Plant GEMs 5) will take place in Venice, Italy, at the Russott hotel (San Giuliano, Venice), from October 11 - 14, 2006. http://www.distagenomics.unibo.it/plantgems/

Innovation Africa Symposium, 21-23 November 2006, Kampala, Uganda. An international symposium to share experiences and lessons on agricultural innovation systems in Africa organised by CIAT and other partners. Call for contributions.

Novel and Sustainable Weed Management in Arid and Semi-Arid Agro-Ecosystems. Organized by The Weed Science Society of Israel & The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel, 15 -21 October 2006. Conference email: wgarid@agri.huji.ac.il; website: http://agri3.huji.ac.il/aridconference/

First International meeting on Cassava Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, 11-15 November 2006, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil. http://www.geneconserve.pro.br/meeting2/

Ninth Arab Congress of Plant Protection, 19-23 November, 2006, Congress Palace (Ebla Cham hotel), Damascus, Syria. http://www.9acpp-sy.org/

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SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS TOCs UPDATE

International Journal of Biological Sciences. Current issue, Volume 2, 2006. Table of contents, abstracts and full text articles

Plant Pathology Journal. Current issue, Volume 5(1). Download abstracts and full text articles

Journal of Biological Sciences, Current issue, Volume 6 (1). Download abstracts and full text articles

Biotechnology, Current issue, Volume 5(2). Download abstracts and full text articles

The Plant Cell: August 2006; Volume 18, Issue 8. View Table of Contents and abstracts at: 

http://www.plantcell.org/current.shtml

African Journal of Biotechnology, August 2006. View Table of Contents, abstracts and full text articles at: http://www.academicjournals.org/AJB/contents/2006cont/3Aug.htm

Electronic Journal of Biotechnology: July 2006 issue, Volume 9. View Table of Contents, abstracts and full text articles at http://www.ejbiotechnology.info/content/vol9/issue4/index.html

Crop Protection: Read Volume 25, Issue 8, Page 725-900 (August 2006). Table of contents

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A Call for articles, September 2006 Issue

We invite articles, announcements and other information for the next issue of AFRICAN CROPS NEWS SERVICE that comes out in the third week of September 2006. To see previous newsletters, go to: http://www.africancrops.net/news

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About The African Crops News Service!

The African Crops News Service covers current research and developments in improvement of African crops and seed systems. The service compliments the africancrops.net website to enhance further the sharing of news and information from projects supported by The Rockefeller Foundation and those by other organizations. The service team welcomes short articles and information on your project and organization, research networks and country for inclusion in the upcoming issues of the newsletter. Read more on the African Crops News Service at http://africancrops.net/news/

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Comments

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Disclaimer: This document is produced for the sole role of sharing useful information that can be used for academic and development purposes only. We make no warranty, express or implied, of its completeness and therefore assume no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, reliability, usefulness or consequences of any information or process disclosed.