door opens to myanmar -...

Door opens to Myanmar

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17 April 2015 avrdc.org

Best postharvest practices demonstrated in Thailand

1

With solid support from the highest levels of government and new projects soon to start, AVRDC is ready to extend its expertise to a nation emerging from isolation

For decades, Myanmar has been cut off from much of

the world, and travel there has been difficult. AVRDC’s germplasm could get in, but not its senior management.

Then, from 16-20 March 2015, AVRDC Director

General Dyno Keatinge, Deputy Director General - Research Jackie Hughes, Regional Director for South

Asia Warwick Easdown and Regional Director for

East and Southeast Asia Fen Beed were finally able to visit Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar’s new capital, to explore

opportunities for new projects and staff placements in

the country.

Despite their isolation, Myanmar scientists have

VINESA graduates call upon Maasai men in their communities to eat more vegetables

Page 18

(left): Myanmar women hand-harvesting black gram.

(right, l to r): AVRDC Director General Dyno Keatinge, Deputy Director General - Research Jackie Hughes, and Myanmar Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation His Excellency U Myint Hlaing in the shade of a bottle gourd arbor.

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produced eight new tomato varieties and hybrids based

on AVRDC germplasm. However, their greatest success has been with mungbean, which is now a major cash

crop. Myanmar is one of the world’s largest exporters of

the legume, but this success is threatened by the spread

of Mungbean yellow mosaic virus.

AVRDC will soon start a five-year project to improve

mungbean breeding and seed production in Myanmar, Bangladesh and India with funding from the Australian

Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

The AVRDC team spent a morning in detailed

discussions with the Minister for Agriculture and

Irrigation, His Excellency U Myint Hlaing, after

visiting a government demonstration vegetable farm.

“There is a new window for collaboration especially at

the technical level,” the minister said. He emphasized Myanmar’s abundant natural

resources, the importance of

expanding vegetable production, and

the government’s strong commitment to encouraging private sector

investment. He was extremely

supportive of AVRDC’s involvement in strengthening the vegetable sector, and

later put this in writing with the

endorsement of the Vice President.

The visit also received national TV coverage.

“We could not have asked for a more

(Clockwise from top left): AVRDC Director General Dyno Keatinge and Deputy DG for Research Jackie Hughes viewing vegetable displays in DAR genebank with Dr. Ye Tint Tun, Director General of the Department of Agricultural Research.

AVRDC team and Myanmar hosts from the Department of Agricultural Research.

Dyno Keatinge and Jackie Hughes discussing MYMV trials with DAR Mungbean Breeder Dr. Kyaw Swar Win.

AVRDC Regional Director for East and Southeast Asia Fen Beed, Regional Director for South Asia Warwick Easdown, and mungbean seed growers in Yamethin District, north of Nay Pyi Taw.

3

positive start to our relationship

with Myanmar,” said Dyno Keatinge. “Our hosts could not have

been more helpful.” While the

ACIAR mungbean project will lay

the foundation, Dyno said, “we are also seeking additional projects and

are committed to having a

permanent AVRDC staff presence in Myanmar in the very near

future.”

Hosted by Dr. Tun Shwe, Head of the Food Legumes Crop Section,

and Director Thant Lwin Oo, the

AVRDC team visited black gram

and melon farmers around Nay Pyi

Taw. They also travelled north to Yamethin district in the central dry

zone of Myanmar to visit mungbean

seed production fields run by the

Department of Agricultural Research.

Dr. Shwe emphasized the importance of mungbean as a cash

crop for farmers, “particularly in

this year, as many rice crops have

failed due to drought, and farmers have changed their cropping

pattern.”

Myanmar vegetable production is

severely constrained by a lack of skilled government

horticulturalists, with only 24

scientific staff to service the needs

of the whole country. The new Director General of the Department

of Agricultural Research, Dr. Ye

Tint Tun, strongly endorsed the growing relationship between

AVRDC and Myanmar, and

opportunities for both capacity

building of his staff as well as technical collaboration.


(l): Water boys at model vegetable farm.

(r): Dr Thant Lwin Oo, Director of the Food Legumes Crop Section, explaining symptoms of MYMV in black gram.

A GLOBAL SYSTEM for SYSTEMS RESEARCH: The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) hosted the global systems research and development community at the International Conference on Integrated Systems Research for Sustainable Intensification in Smallholder Agriculture, 9-13 March 2015 in Ibadan, Nigeria. Social and agricultural scientists participating in the conference stressed the importance of agricultural research to be done with a holistic systems perspective, and for better links between research on improvements in specific commodities and natural resources management. Participants advocated for strong partnerships and stakeholder involvement through mechanisms such as Innovation Platforms, which are viewed as essential ingredients for enabling the scaling out of systems approaches to benefit millions of farmers. The conference was organized by the CGIAR Research Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics (Humidtropics, in which AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center participates), in partnership with the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) and the CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems (Drylands). http://humidtropics.cgiar.org/international-conference-integrated-systems/

A new study has found that

capsaicin (the compound that makes chili peppers spicy) might

help prevent obesity by stimulating

thermogenesis and energy burning.

Author Baskaran Thyagarajan,

PhD, Assistant Professor of

Pharmaceutics and Neuroscience at the University of Wyoming (USA)

School of Pharmacy, decided to

research the benefits of chili pepper

extract based on existing research that ties spicy foods to an increased

metabolism.

When lab mice ate pure capsaicin-

containing foods, they were

protected from high fat diet-induced obesity, Thyagarajan says.

The capsaicin compound turned fat

-storers into fat-burners—and has

the same effect on humans. “In our

body, white adipocytes store energy

as fat and brown adipocytes expend energy by burning fat. We have

discovered a novel mechanism by

which capsaicin-stimulated cellular

signaling triggers the conversion of white to brown adipocytes,” thus

burning energy that would

otherwise be stored as fat, Thyagarajan explains. “This is

associated with an increased

metabolism and energy

expenditure.”

While the study helps shed new

light on the benefits of spicy food, the researchers also see it as the

first step toward developing an

antiobesity drug. “Capsaicin is an

ingredient from natural chili peppers and is easily amenable for

development as a new drug for

preventing and treating metabolic

diseases like obesity, hypertension, type II diabetes, etc.,” said

Thyagarajan.

Chilies go for the burn

AVRDC alumnus David

Midmore, Foundation Professor of Plant

Sciences, Central

Queensland University,

Australia and Visiting Professor, University of

Reading, UK, recently

published Principles of Tropical Horticulture, a

book that leads the

reader through a

background of environmental

influences and plant physiology to an understanding of

production and postharvest systems, environmental adaptation techniques and marketing strategies.

Focusing on the principles behind production practices

and their scientific basis, rather than detailed biological

traits of each crop, this text outlines successes and

failures in practices to date and sets out how the quantity and quality of horticultural produce can

improve in the future. Case studies are frequently used

and chapters cover the production of vegetables, fruit

and ornamental crops, including temperate zone crops adapted to grow in the tropics.

David was the Center’s Crop Physiologist and Director -

Production Systems Program from August 1990 to August 1995.

To order a copy: http://www.cabi.org/bookshop/

book/9781845935153

New book from an old friend

4 CORNUCOPIA

5 CORNUCOPIA

The Center in the news

Seed Quest, the global portal for the seed industry, highlighted a story from Fresh, “Tanzania holds first course on plant breeders’ rights” on 30 January 2015

http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=58596&id_region=11&id_category=&id_crop=

Reporter Rachel Cernansky interviewed Postharvest Specialist Ngoni

Nenguwo for a report on combating food waste in sub-Saharan Africa, published on the Mongabay website:

http://news.mongabay.com/2015/0409-sri-rcernansky-food-waste-

subsaharan-africa.html

and the Epoch Times website:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1318414-combating-wasting-food-

resources-in-africa/

Resource Magazine published an

essay by Director General Dyno Keatinge and Head of

Communications Maureen Mecozzi

titled “Feed the World in 2015…and

Nourish it, too” in a special March/April 2015 issue:

http://bt.e-ditionsbyfry.com/

publication/?i=247419

Legume breeder Ram Nair reported

on AVRDC’s effort to disseminate improved vegetable soybean in India

in the February 2015 issue of

Sustainable Soy News.

Joko Mariyono, who served as Project Site Coordinator for the USAID Vegetables for

Indonesia project for nearly four years, bid farewell to his AVRDC colleagues on 28 February 2015. Joko helped to establish field trials in East Java and Bali, conducted

farmer training in grafting and nursery management, and co-authored several papers

on the research. He plans to disseminate vegetable-related technologies to the broader

community through other projects, and through publications in conference proceedings and journals. He is also lecturing at universities to share his experiences.

All the best, Joko!

Farewell

6 CORNUCOPIA

Seminars

On 24 March 2015, Marie Antoinette Patalagsa, Consultant,

AVRDC Impact Evaluation, presented her findings from a survey on gender and home gardens in Bangladesh. Socially constructed gender

roles strongly influence household food consumption. Most home

garden programs that aim to increase household vegetable

consumption typically target women, but few studies have analyzed how these programs affect gender roles. Results indicate the home

garden training raised women’s social stature in their communities,

gave them control over the food consumed by the household, and provided a small but significant source of cash income. When

converted to nutrient yields, the garden supply of plant proteins was

higher by 271%, vitamin A by 289%, and iron by 272%. Family diets

were diversified, as money previously spent to purchase vegetables could be used to buy fish or meat. The research is being used to refine

AVRDC’s home garden training approaches.

The status of vegetable production in Cambodia was the topic when

Sereyrith Ly, Horticulturalist of the CHAIN (Cambodian Horticulture Advancing Income and Nutrition) project, spoke to AVRDC staff on 13

March 2015. Agriculture employs about 70% of Cambodia’s population, yet

the country imports about 70% of its daily vegetable requirement from

neighbors Vietnam and Thailand. Most farmers save their own seed. Pesticide misuse is common among large-scale farmers. CHAIN aims to

improve the income and food security of smallholder households in targeted

rural areas by building capacity of farmers and processors to sustainably increase production; strengthen farmers’ and processors’ groups for

improved services and market access; and facilitate delivery of services

from the public and private sectors. CHAIN is funded by the Swiss Agency

for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

On 13 April 2015, Saima Rani, Scientific Officer, Social Science

Research Institute, Pakistan, and Bakhodir Kuziyev, Site Coordinator, Uzbekistan discussed plans for a baseline study on

mungbean to be conducted with 300 households in each country

for the “Beans with Benefits” project. Part of the survey will

examine the role of men and women in crop production systems, and explore how the introduction of improved mungbean varieties

as a catch crop may change these roles. Learning alliances among

NGOs, public institutions and private seed companies will be established to disseminate and scale-up the research results.

Saima and Bakhodir spent two weeks at AVRDC headquarters to

meet colleagues and plan the survey schedule. Field surveys are

expected to begin in December 2015.

Saima Rani Bakhodir Kuziyev

Visitors

A delegation from Ilocos Norte Province, the Philippines, visited the Center on 20 March 2015 to discuss areas for potential collaboration. Governor Maria Imelda Romualdez Marcos; Provincial Board Members Da Vinci Manuel Crisostomo and James Paul Nalupta; Agriculturalist Edwin Carlito Carino; Tourism Officer Ianree Raquel; and Mark Moh Chye Chua, Governor Marcos’ spouse, met with members of the AVRDC management team and Board Secretary Didit Ledesma. The visitors were briefed on AVRDC’s activities in the Philippines and around the world, then toured the Demonstration Garden and Genebank.

7 CORNUCOPIA

Nathaniel Williams, Permanent Secretary, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade, Commerce and Information Technology; Raymond Ryan, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Industry, Forestry, Fisheries and Rural Transformation; and Bernadette Ambrose-Black, Chief Executive Officer of Invest St. Vincent were introduced to the Center’s global initiatives on 19 March 2015 in discussions with Yin-fu Chang, AVRDC Deputy Director General Administration & Services, HR Director Nagaraj Inukonda, and Finance Director Dirk Overweg. C.H. Lin, Deputy Chief of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs, Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led the group.

(l): Familiar faces returned to the Center on 17 March 2015, when a delegation from the University of Idaho USA stopped by headquarters for a visit. Drs. Robert Tripepi (Horticulture) and Matt Powell (Fish Genetics) annually bring groups of plant science and agricultural economics students to Taiwan for exchanges with National Chiayi University (NCYU) and other institutions organized by Yo-chi Tsai of NCYU’s Office of International Affairs. Bob, Matt, Yo-chi, U of I Nutritionist Dr. Samantha Ramsay and five students received a briefing from Maureen Mecozzi, Head of Communications, and enjoyed a lively tour of the Demonstration Garden with Yi-Chin Wu.

(r): A group of 40 visitors from Tainan Airport, Civil Aviation Authority/Ministry of Transportation toured the AVRDC campus on 18 March 2015 to learn about the center’s research activities and facilities.

AARNET Expert Consultation on climate change


Ensuring safe and nutritious food is

available, accessible and affordable

year-round is one of the most

pressing concerns facing the ASEAN region. Risks are

exacerbated by both gradual and

drastic changes in climate change. A report from the Asian

Development Bank (2009) warned

that Southeast Asian countries were

particularly vulnerable to losses in food security due to observed and

predicted climate changes

combined with rapidly growing populations.

The AVRDC- ASEAN Regional

Network for Vegetable Research and Development

(AARNET) tackled some of these

prominent issues at an expert

consultation on “Climate Change

Mitigation and Adaptation

Strategies for Vegetables in

Southeast Asia” on 26 March 2015 at Pakse City, Champasak Provice,

Lao PDR. This consultation

followed the 10th AARNET Steering Committee meeting, which

was held on 24-25 March.

More than 30 delegates were welcomed by Bounthong

Bouhom, Director General of the

National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI),

Ministry of Agriculture and

Forestry, who expressed his

appreciation to AARNET for selecting Lao PDR as the venue to

discuss the critical climatic

challenges threatening sustainable

vegetable value chains in the

region.

Fenton Beed, AVRDC Regional

Director for East and Southeast

Asia, set the scene by highlighting the structure and objectives of the

workshop: to share and develop

practical strategies to address climate change related issues.

Background presentations included

a keynote address “On minimizing

climatic change in vegetable production” from Jacqueline

d’Arros Hughes, AVRDC’s

Deputy Director General for Research, who emphasized the

need for efficient utilization of

resources such as land, water,

nutrients and genetic resources to ensure more productive and

resilient vegetable production.

Grisana Linwattana, Senior

Agriculture Scientist of

Horticulture Research Institute of the Department of Agriculture,

Thailand presented “Lessons

learned by Thailand in research and

development for vegetable based

Jacqueline d’Arros Hughes, AVRDC Deputy Director General - Research.

Bounthong Bouhom, Director General, National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Lao PDR.

Viengxai Siphaphone, Director, Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office, Champasak Province, Lao PDR.

Bouasone Vongsonglone, Deputy Governor, Champasak Province, Lao PDR

8 CORNUCOPIA

Fenton Beed, Regional Director, AVRDC East and Southeast Asia

mitigation and adaptation to

climate change.” Andreas Ebert, AVRDC Genebank Manager;

Narinder Dhillon, global

cucurbit breeder; and Sopana

Yule, Entomologist and Biological Control Specialist, presented

AVRDC research findings on how

germplasm, breeding and production practices, respectively,

can be used to mitigate and adapt

to climate change.

AARNET members from 10 ASEAN

countries (Brunei Darussalam,

Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines,

Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam)

shared their respective countries’

policy frameworks, research and development programs and

strategies to mitigate and adapt to

climate change and their relevance to vegetable value chains. Working

groups were then established to

prioritize risks and opportunities to

mitigate and adapt to gradual and drastic climate changes.

Following plenary presentations and questions and answer sessions,

the AARNET Steering Committee

group then identified common

challenges and approaches

pertinent to all ASEAN countries. After an animated discussion and

voting process, capacity building on

how to harness the diversity of

vegetable genetic resources was identified as the collective critical

priority. This training will

encapsulate germplasm collection, characterization, conservation, and

screening for resistance to abiotic

and biotic stresses, as well as the

sharing of standard protocols for wider use and adoption by ASEAN

countries.

Viengxai Siphaphone, Director

of the Provincial Agriculture and

Forestry Office, Champasak

province, officially closed the meeting. “This has been a truly

unique meeting as the quality of

information provided was illuminating and the participatory

discussions frank and productive,”

he said. “It was a privilege for Lao

PDR to host this AARNET meeting, and I welcome all participants to

return.”


9 CORNUCOPIA

AARNET members from 10 countries discussed their respective policy frameworks for vegetable research, reviewed and prioritized strategies to combat climate change, and visited vegetable production field locations in the host country, Lao PDR. A critical issue each country must face is the need to conserve and harness vegetable genetic resources. Future AVRDC training courses for AARNET will address management of vegetable germplasm.

10 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS

Songkran celebration in Kamphaeng Saen

Kasetsart University's Tropical

Vegetable Research Center(TVRC) (Horticulture Department,

Kamphaeng Saen campus,

Thailand) invited AVRDC - The

World Vegetable Center staff to their official Songkran celebration

to welcome the New Year and to

bless future collaborations between TVRC and AVRDC for the

forthcoming year.

At the Seed Processing Building, everyone joined in the traditional

Buddhist rituals of offering prayers,

listening to monks praying, and serving food to the monks. After a

delicious Thai lunch, all poured

fragrant water over statues of Buddha and the hands of elders to

show respect. “It was an honor to

participate in this poignant

ceremony with Dr. Sirikul Wasee (Director of TVRC) and her team,”

said Fenton “Fen” Beed,

Regional Director, AVRDC East and Southeast Asia, who was

experiencing his first Songkran. “It

was a very emotional event for

many, and wonderful to see AVRDC staffers Sunant Larplai and

Porntip Ratanpong at the

forefront of the dancing.”

Then the sanuk (fun) part of

observing Songkran began: devotees and visitors alike doused

each other with water from bowls,

hoses, bottles, cups and any other

suitable implement at hand. Cameras were excluded for their

own safety.

As Fen discovered, Songkran is a

celebration to refresh the body as

well as the spirit: “What was

random was if the water was warm or full of ice!” he said.

(l): AVRDC East and Southeast Asia and Kasetsart University Tropical Vegetable Research Center staff pay tribute to monks during the official Songkran celebration.

(r): AVRDC East and Southeast Asia Regional Director Fenton Beed and TVRC Director Sirikul Wasee.

(left): Songkran in flower: Beautiful blooming trees line the roads at Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen campus.

(right): Staff share their wishes for a Happy New Year with elders and colleagues.

Learning to reduce postharvest losses in Nepal

Postharvest losses in Nepal reduce

the total vegetable supply in the country by 15-40%. Poor harvesting

practices, and lack of knowledge

and technologies in sorting,

grading, packing, cooling and storage reduce incomes for

smallholder farmers and food for

consumers.

The AVRDC Postharvest Asia Team

recently organized a customized

training workshop in Thailand for 15 specialists from the Ministry of

Agriculture Development, Nepal

working for the High Value Agriculture Project in Hill and

Mountain Areas (HVAP). The

workshop was funded by the

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The ‘Training cum Exposure on Postharvest Management of

Vegetables and Market Linkage’

was held in collaboration with the Postharvest Technology Center at

Kasetsart University (KU),

Thailand, from 16-21 February

2015.

Topics covered included the role of

value chain actors; packaging; interactions between consumers,

traders and producers; maintaining

produce quality through contract

farming; and the role of the private sector for quality assurance and

market management of agricultural

products.

Participants were also trained on

precooling, sorting and grading

with marketing groups; eco-friendly and healthy production;

packing systems; postharvest loss

reduction; and ways to increase shelf life of vegetables.

Fenton Beed, AVRDC’s Regional Director for East and Southeast

Asia, and Sirikul Wasee,

Director, Tropical Vegetable

Research Centre of KU, opened the workshop. Shri Gautam,

Narinder Dhillon, Jun Acedo

and Yoonpyo Hong of AVRDC gave presentations on the

importance of a value chain

approach to agricultural

development; the need to use clean

and adapted seed varieties; and

handling and processing technologies, respectively. Critical

postharvest steps were detailed by

Apita Bunsiri of the Postharvest

Technology Center of Kasetsart University and Songsin

Photonachai of King Mongkut's

University of Technology, Thonburi. An overview of food

safety and trade was provided by

Anil Anal of the Asian Institute of

Technology (AIT).

On-site demonstrations and

training in good agricultural practices (GAP) and good

manufacturing practices (GMP)

included visits to pack houses,

central consolidation centers, and many wholesale and retail markets.

After their exposure to GAP and

GMP in practice, participants identified several areas for

additional training.

Tara Kumar Shrestha, group leader

and Joint Secretary of Nepal’s

Ministry of Agricultural

Development, and Mina Kandel, Agricultural Economist, thanked

the organizers for sharing their

knowledge and experience. (l): AVRDC Postharvest Specialist Yoonpyo Hong (in red shirt) explains the benefits of plastic packaging. (r): Participants tour the Horticulture Nursery at Kasetsart University, KPS.

Participants enjoyed a visit to Chachawan Orchid Farm in Thailand.


Where did all the tomatoes go?

Cambodia faces a major deficit in

vegetable supplies, but about a quarter of the tomatoes its farmers

produce never reach consumers.

The situation in Nepal is no better.

Postharvest losses are real and

must be cut: This was the

combined conclusion of a series of stakeholders’ workshops held in

Cambodia in Battambang and Siem

Reap provinces on 24-26 February

2015 and in Nepal in Kapilvastu and Banke Districts from 3-5

March.

Led by Shri Gautam, AVRDC

Monitoring and Evaluation

Specialist, with assistance from Postharvest Specialists Jun Acedo

and Yoonpyo Hong, the

workshops validated the findings of

national value chain surveys, identified suitable interventions,

introduced appropriate postharvest

technologies and fostered cooperation among value chain

actors.

Farmers, processors, traders, input suppliers, technical officers,

administrators and policymakers

from the Department of

Agriculture, National Agriculture

Research Center, Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and

Bioresources (ANSAB-Nepal) and

the International Development

Enterprise (IDE-Nepal) took part in the workshops.

Postharvest losses vary by crop, location and value chain actors. In

Cambodia, 26% of the total

production of tomatoes and 23% of

leaf mustard are lost. In addition, about 12% of tomatoes and 18% of

leaf mustard had reduced prices

due to quality loss after harvest. Tomato farmers, wholesalers and

retailers incurred higher losses

than collectors or commission

agents, while leaf mustard farmers had higher loss than collectors,

wholesalers and retailers.

In Nepal, 25% of tomatoes and 19%

of cauliflower are lost, but farmers

incurred lower losses than collectors, wholesalers and

retailers.

In both countries, farmers’ largest postharvest losses were from

preharvest disease and insect pest

damage. Losses of collectors,

wholesalers and retailers were

related mainly to poor transportation and storage. Losses

along the chain were partly passed

on to farmers, as farmgate prices

are half the retail price.1

Cambodia, Nepal and Bangladesh

are the focus of AVRDC’s Postharvest Project in Asia funded

by the U.S. Agency for

International Development

(USAID).

Participants agreed that to reduce

losses, improved high yielding varieties with good quality,

resistance to handling hazards, and

long shelf life were needed, along with better packaging, transport

and storage techniques. “Most of

the participants have had scant

exposure to postharvest technologies,” said Shri. “The

capacity building programs

initiated by these workshops are sorely needed.”


(l): Group presentation in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

(r): Presenting the survey findings.


AVRDC at Agri Expo in Pakistan

Pakistan’s largest agricultural

exposition, Dawn Sarsabz Pakistan Agri Expo 2015,

attracted visitors from around the

region to the Expo Centre in Lahore

on 19-20 March 2015. All business sectors directly or indirectly

involved with agriculture

participated in the event, which presented a rare opportunity to

assess the potential of Pakistan’s

agricultural market and enabled

participants to develop partnerships with the key players

driving the sector forward.

Pakistan is in search of cutting-

edge technology and the latest

methodologies that will enable it to

become one of the leading agricultural economies of South

Asia. Exhibitors presented

agricultural equipment, agro-processing methods and packaging,

irrigation systems and more.

At a booth for the USAID

Agricultural Innovation

Program, AVRDC –The World

Vegetable Center and project partner the International Maize and Wheat

Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

showcased technologies such as drip

irrigation and improved varieties. A working model of a drip installation

was on display, which attracted

considerable attention from visitors. The AVRDC team distributed flyers,

booklets and copies of Fresh.

Numerous officials, farmers and

sector specialists visited the booth

and showed interest in AVRDC’s work. The exhibition opened doors

to potential partnerships and

created greater awareness of the

Center in Pakistan.

The USAID Agriculture Innovation Program booth at the Dawn Sarsabz Pakistan Agri Expo 2015 attracted plenty of interest from attendees. AVRDC staff were on hand to answer questions, explain program activities, and discuss the Center’s work.

Demonstrating the drip irrigation system to a reporter.


Net houses cross the border

There is a huge opportunity to

expand protected cultivation of vegetables in South Asia to improve

supplies to consumers and returns

to farmers.

A new cross-border collaborative

project involving Indian and

Pakistan scientists will expand AVRDC’s current work to improve

plastic tunnel production of

vegetables in Pakistan and will

introduce new ways of growing vegetables under cover.

Just across the border in India, vegetables are available for a longer

season than in Pakistan because of

the use of polynet houses, which allow for year-round production of

crops such as tomato, cucumber,

and capsicum.

Rakesh Sharda, Extensionist

from Punjab Agricultural

University, Major Dhaliwal, Head of the university’s

Department of Vegetable Crops,

and AVRDC Regional Director Warwick Easdown recently

spent five days visiting Pakistan

farmers to assess protected

cultivation practices and the opportunities for transferring

Indian experience to Pakistan.

They were guided by USAID

Agricultural Innovation

Program Team Leader Mansab

Ali, Horticulturalist Asrar Sarwar, Agricultural Engineer

Arif Shahzad and AVRDC

research associates working directly with farmers to improve

their practices.

A key part of the AIP project in

Pakistan is the promotion of

improved protected cultivation

practices. While Pakistan produces tomato, cucumber and peppers

under low and high tunnels to

protect crops during the three months of winter, the use of

polynet houses is unknown.

AVRDC has worked with Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in

India for more than six years to

develop and promote

improved

and low cost

polynet houses.

Indian

farmers that adopted this

technology

are now

progressing to larger,

more

sophisticated structures.

The team found ample

opportunities to work with Pakistan farmers to improve existing plastic

tunnel practices. Steel framing

instead of bamboo, and stronger

plastic can help withstand weather damage. Better fertigation can

improve the efficiency of fertilizer

use practices, and the introduction of better varieties can improve

yields.

AVRDC research associates including Anam Fatima are

currently working with plastic

tunnel farmers to trial new varieties and to introduce trickle irrigation

practices. The project will build

polynet houses and providing

extensive training on pest and disease management.

Farmers on both sides of the border are realizing the benefits of new

forms of protected cultivation to

increase farmer incomes as well as the availability of high quality

vegetables to consumers over

longer seasons.

(l to r): AVRDC Vegetable Program Leader Mansab Ali, Extensionist from Punjab Agricultural University Rakesh Sharda and Head of PAU’s Department of Vegetable Crops Major Dhaliwal with a cucumber and pepper farmer near Sheikhupura.

AVRDC field trials near Faisalbad.

African nightshade impresses farmers in Burkina Faso


Amy, a woman involved in an

evaluation trial of AVRDC

traditional African vegetable varieties at the Center’s Best

Practice Hub in Gampéla,

Burkina Faso, wondered what African nightshade (Solanum spp.)

plants would look like when they

grew to full size, and was

particularly curious about the taste and texture of this unfamiliar

vegetable. She agreed to try

growing African nightshade, but was uncertain about its yield

potential. She thought she might

experience economic losses while

her friends cultivating other well-known crops such as amaranth

would gain more.

Two months after planting African

nightshade, Amy was the picture of

confidence, teasing everyone at the

hub as she watched her plots turn greener and greener every day. Amy

expected that she would harvest the

fruit from her lush, thriving plants; when she learned it was the leaves

that are eaten, not the fruit,

disappointment set in.

At the first harvest on 3 January

2015, she took large bundles of

nightshade leaves home to share with friends. But none of her

friends wanted to try cooking the

leafy greens; they were unsure how

to prepare the vegetable and feared a failure in the kitchen. Then she

met a friend who looked into her

basket and exclaimed with surprise:

“Loudo! Where did you get it?” (loudo is the local name for

African nightshade). Amy’s

disappointment turned into joy and anticipation: Although African

nightshade is not popular in

Burkina Faso, particularly in the

Gampéla area where global vegetable species like tomato and

green beans are predominant, the

strong interest of her friend indicated there could be a market

for the crop.

Amy’s friend showed her how to cook the leaves into a tasty African

nightshade sauce, and Amy

returned the favor by giving her friend five large bunches of African

nightshade. “My friend said: ‘Now,

listen to me: when you cook it,

don’t use too much or too little

peanut, neither too much nor too

little salt; don’t eat the sauce while it is hot, for, you will miss the full

flavor. Serve it warm, not cool, and

then find a hidden corner to avoid

being disturbed. In any case, do not react to greetings from visitors: You

will know what African nightshade

is all about!’” Amy said.

She told the story to her fellow

farmers at the Best Practice Hub,

making them laugh to tears. Now, when Amy harvests her African

nightshade plot at the hub, women

come from nearby villages to purchase the leaves and learn how

to cook the special sauce.

Amy from Gampéla, Burkina Faso, harvests African nightshade leaves for her neighbors interested in trying the crop.

The Steering Committee of the

Traditional African Vegetables project funded by the West and

Central African Council for

Agricultural Research and

Development (CORAF/WECARD) was held in Yaoundé, Cameroon on

10 February 2015. All members of

the committee were present, along with scientists from AVRDC’s

Cameroon Liaison office. The

committee meets twice a year to

oversee and provide guidance to implementing partners and ensure

that the regional relevance of the

project is maintained.

The committee discussed

publishing various reports; training

the project team to set up an Innovation Platform; collecting

traditional African vegetable

germplasm (the issue of where to keep the seed was raised, as CORAF

does not have a gene bank). The

project exit strategy also was discussed, as the project has one

year remaining; it is thus important

to plan for renewal or to find other

sources to extend project activities. CORAF Program Manager Dr.

Ndoye said the CORAF thematic

area on Food, Nutrition and Health could be explored to extend the

lifetime of the project.

Prior to the meeting, the committee members visited two fields in

Ebolowa in the South region: the

demonstration field of the Center for Assistance to Sustainable

Development (CASD) and a field of

a beneficiary. Members were

impressed by the project’s work in the area. They held discussions with

11 stakeholders (4 females and 7

males), during which the farmers revealed that the main challenge

they face is the variation in prices

for traditional African vegetables due to lack of farmer cooperatives.

The committee noted there is a

need to intensify farmers’ education

on the importance of forming cooperatives, as well as helping

them come together to speak with

one voice.

Dr. Ndoye said the traditional

African vegetables project is one of

the best he is supervising, and encouraged partner institutions to

keep up the good work.

Traditional African vegetables project steering in the right direction


(left) Traditional African Vegetables Project Steering Committee members with scientists from AVRDC’s Cameroon Liaison office. (right) Field visit.


Seed multiplication of traditional African vegetables

AVRDC – The World Vegetable

Center organized a seed multiplication training session

from 23-24 March 2015 at the

International Institute of Tropical

Agriculture in Nkolbisson to ensure vegetable producers are equipped

with the knowledge and skills they

need to save quality seed for future planting. The training falls under

the project “Enhancing

Productivity, Competitiveness and

Marketing of Traditional African Vegetables (TAV) for Improved

Income and Nutrition in West and

Central Africa” commissioned by West and Central African Council

for Agricultural Research and

Development (CORAF/WECARD).

It was attended by 37 participants (23 men, 14 women) from the

Southwest and South regions of

Cameroon. The beneficiaries of the training were nominated by

Cameroon-based project partners

Institut de Recherche Agricole pour

le Développement (IRAD) and the

Center for Assistance to Sustainable

Development (CASD).

Farmers’ access to quality seed is

fundamental to the development of

traditional African vegetable production. The workshop trained

participants on the recommended

methods and techniques of producing quality seeds; exposed

participants to the processes of

seed quality certification; and

demonstrated how traditional African vegetable seed production

can be a profitable business.

A SWOT (strengths-weaknesses-

opportunities-threats) analysis for

community-based seed production pointed to the availability of

improved seed from AVRDC,

engaged trained producers, and

land as strengths, while good local and regional market availability

was the best opportunity. But seed

policy certification was identified as a threat; poor producers’

organization and lack of storage

facilities are the weaknesses.

At the end of the training,

participants were well-equipped

with up-to-date knowledge and

enhanced skills to produce and market quality seed of traditional

African vegetables to increase their

productivity and incomes, and provide a steady supply of

nutritious vegetables to local

markets.


Young farmers spark behavior changes in their communities

On 26 March 2015, farmers,

institutions and communities in

Arumeru District, Tanzania gathered

at the Horticultural Research and

Training Institute (HORTI) Tengeru

to celebrate the graduation of the

second group of farmers and mark the

admission of the third group of

trainees for the project “Improving

Income and Nutrition in Eastern and

Southern Africa by Enhancing

Vegetable-based Farming and Food

Systems in Peri-urban

Corridors” (VINESA). The project is

funded by the Australian Government

through the Australian Center for

International Agricultural Research

(ACIAR).

AVRDC –The World Vegetable Center

coordinates VINESA activities in

Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique and

Tanzania, and HORTI-Tengeru

spearheads VINESA’s activities in

Tanzania.

Besides honoring the hard work of the

second group and introducing the

third group to what lies ahead, the

ceremony provided a platform to

lobby for technical, business and

financial support for the graduates, to

help them engage in high value

vegetable markets.

Representatives from government,

private, non-government and farmer

organizations attended the event,

which was officiated by Hasna

Mwilima, Arumeru’s District

Commissioner, who also presented

certificates to the graduates. Thomas

Dubois, AVRDC Regional Director

for Eastern and Southern Africa, said:

“Stakeholders should seriously

promote consumption of more

vegetables in their communities, and

thus help these young farmers have

more money in their pockets.”

In Tanzania, VINESA has trained a

total 45 young male and female

farmers and hopes to train another 75

farmers by 31 December 2017.

Training covers a variety of topics,

ranging from identifying viable

vegetable markets; maximizing value

and minimizing wastes; and selecting

the right partners and relationships.

After graduation, trainees are

obligated to train 10-12 peer farmers

from their community on how to

produce, market and consume

nutritious, safe and profitable

vegetables.

“Post-training support is a major

challenge facing the young graduates,”

said Agatha Aloyce, VINESA’s

Tanzania coordinator. A call was sent

out to service providers and

communities to support the young

graduates if they are to benefit from

their training in VINESA’s Best

Practice Hubs in a sustainable way.

The young graduates performed skits,

songs and dances in which they

encouraged their communities to eat

more vegetables for better health, and

to engage in vegetable market

opportunities to earn more income.

Graduates and guests also were

treated to mouth-watering vegetable

recipes prepared by AVRDC staff. An

emphasis was made on the need to

prepare good-looking, tempting

vegetable dishes if Maasai men are to

be motivated to stop looking down

upon vegetables as a “poor man’s

food.” Various stakeholders promised

their support to the trainees,

especially by increasing access to

affordable credit and land for joint

vegetable farming. It is only through

concerted efforts from service

providers that smallholder farmers

will be able to exploit opportunities to

improve employment, income and

livelihoods in their communities.

(left): A young graduate receives her certificate from Arumeru’s District Commissioner, Ms Hasna Mwilima.

(right): Farmers, community leaders, and business representatives from Arumeru District, Tanzania gathered at the Horticultural Research and Training Institute (HORTI-Tengeru) to celebrate the graduation of the second group of VINESA farmers.

Welcome

19 CORNUCOPIA

Fresh, 17 April 2015

Fresh is published by :

AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center

P.O. Box 42, Shanhua, Tainan 74199

Taiwan

avrdc.org

Comments, ask a question, add a name to our mailing list: [email protected]

Editor: Maureen Mecozzi

Graphic design: Kathy Chen

Photographic guidance: Amy Chen and

Vanna Liu

Contributors: Jun Acedo, Mansab Ali, Fenton Beed, Sheila de Lima, Warwick Easdown, Shri Gautam, Peter Hanson, Regine Kamga, Sanjeet Kumar, Nadine Kwazi, Letty Lin, John Macharia

Ndeye Bouba Mbengue, Research Intern from Montpellier SupAgro, France, arrived at AVRDC headquarters for a six-month internship from 3 April to 30 September 2015. Ndeye is on a fellowship sponsored by the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program Scholarship program (Montpellier SupAGro). She will work on insect resistance with the Tomato Breeding group at AVRDC headquarters in Taiwan under the supervision of Plant Breeder Peter Hanson and Mohamed Rakha, Postdoctoral Fellow, in collaboration with Entomologist Srinivasan Ramasamy.

Annika Hoffmann, Research Intern from Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, arrived at AVRDC headquarters for a four-month internship from 16 April to 15 August 2015. Annika will conduct research on tomato late blight resistance, which is part of the GIZ-funded project “Wild Relatives to Fight Blight”. She will be supervised by Peter Hanson in collaboration with Jaw-fen Wang, Plant Pathologist and Roland Schafleitner, Head, Molecular Genetics.

IT Support Engineer Felix Malisa joined AVRDC Eastern and Southern Africa on 1 March 2015. He holds various certificates in information technology, and has five years of experience with a good background in network operating systems as well as hardware and software maintenance.

Sophia Bongole will be joining the team at AVRDC Eastern and Southern Africa as the Project Site Coordinator for the USAID-funded project “Deploying Vegetable Seed Kits to Tackle Malnutrition in Tanzania.” Sophia is an agribusiness specialist with a MBA in Agribusiness from Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania. Before joining AVRDC, she worked as a part-time research assistant in various agricultural projects at the university. She has knowledge and skills in project management, agricultural value chains, agribusiness and fundamental business topics.

Phathana Sengounkeo and Sengdala Mounnalath, Research Interns from the Horticulture Research Center, National Agriculture & Forestry Research Institute, Lao PDR, spent three weeks (14 March to 4 April 2015) at AVRDC headquarters to work on “Germplasm regeneration and characterization of cucumber and other cucurbit crops for use in breeding” under the supervision of Andreas Ebert, Genebank Manager, and other staff in the Genetic Resources and Seed Unit.

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