Scientists and Entrepreneurs strategise to produce millions of biotechnology planting materials |
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Following renewed regional efforts to improve agricultural productivity to enhance economic growth, the quality of the environment and improve livelihoods in East and Central Africa (ECA), scientists and entrepreneurs recently held a workshop to lay strategies to produce millions of planting materials using tissue culture biotechnology. Declining agricultural production caused by the biotic stresses (pests and diseases) to staple crops, and lack of quality germplasm delivery mechanisms to help smallholder farmers to cultivate efficiently, were identified as some of the major constraints to agricultural production, a draft report by the Tissue Culture Business Network (TCBN) general assembly 2008 disclosed. The report, compiled by the ASARECA Agro-Biodiversity and Biotechnology Programme, notes that tissue culture applications are producing results and should remain focused on key crops, which can then be used to pilot on other crops. A CGIAR centre, IITA and a regional research organization, ASARECA, presented the regional status of tissue culture technology. Representatives of public and private enterprises from Burundi, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda presented case studies on tissue culture biotechnology applications and noted that tissue culture technology had taken route in the public institutions in all the six countries. Increased demand Challenges Private sector picks interest
Lack of awareness The participants also agreed that there is need for relevant policies for access, evaluation and use of new technologies such as aeroponics on Irish potatoes by GTL. Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium. Aeroponic culture differs from both hydroponics and in-vitro (plant tissue culture) growing. Unlike hydroponics, which uses water as growing medium and essential minerals to sustain plant growth, aeroponics is conducted without a growing medium. To sustain tissue culture biotechnology development, the meeting noted, mechanisms are needed to monitor the period materials should stay in the hands of farmers before replenishing with fresh materials. They also pointed out that a two-way value chain from the laboratories to the farmer and back to the laboratories needs to be developed and that the capacity for virus indexing which is already available in Uganda, needs to be developed and sustained. In East and Central Africa the need for clean planting materials and for mass propagation of selected genotypes cannot be overstated. The market is already demanding pest and disease free planting materials in large quantities from several sources including seed companies, research and extension. However, there is no organised business to meet the demand. In response to this challenge, the Agro-Biodiversity and Biotechnology programme supported a tissue culture workshop in Bujumbura, Burundi in 2006. During the workshop, participants agreed to establish the Tissue Culture Business Network (TCBN) to build capacity to multiply and make appropriate tissue culture technologies available. Also discussed was the Knowledge sharing, certification, partnership, germplasm conservation, competitive grant system and the need for an administrative office of TCBN. Some of the activities to address these issues will benefit from ASARECA Agro-biodiversity and biotechnology programme grants. ASARECA is currently supporting a number of tissue culture research initiatives. Four projects that use tissue culture biotechnology as a tool in research for development are being supported. They include the genetic transformation platforms for cassava project, enhancement of cassava and sweet potato tissue culture applications project, genetic engineering of maize against drought for drought tolerance project and the conservation and sustainable use of cassava and sweet potato genetic resources project. TCBN comes after numerous efforts to secure the future of agriculture by a number of research organisations. IITA is engaged in production to marketing research on the use of endophytes to enhance banana tissue culture and mass propagation to fight the banana black sigatoka fungus and banana wilt that has devastated the crop. Hese actvitities will be well served and enhanced by the network. The 2ndnd General assembly is planned to be held in December 2009.
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Scientists and Entrepreneurs strategise to produce millions of biotechnology planting materials Following renewed regional efforts to improve agricultural productivity to enhance economic growth, the quality of the environment and improve livelihoods in East and Central Africa (ECA), scientists [ ... ] |
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