stories from the May 2019 issue of FRESH
Making agriculture smarter
To protect consumers and the environment, it's time to take a more thoughtful and efficient approach to food production across Asia.
Is there a doctor in the house?
Yes! Congratulations to Dr. Never Mwambela, former WorldVeg Eastern and Southern Africa staff, who received her PhD from the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology on 25 April 2019 for her thesis “Occurrence, Seasonal Variation and Management of Tomato Leafminer (Tuta absoluta Meyrick.) in Tanzania” and Dr. Sopana Yule, WorldVeg East and Southeast Asia, who was awarded a PhD for her work on “Whitefly transmission of tomato yellow leaf curl virus and integrated management for beating the virus in tomato” on 7 May 2019 from Kasetsart University, Thailand. Their research was conducted in the WorldVeg Safe and Sustainable Value Chains flagship, under the guidance of Flagship Leader Dr. Srinivasan Ramasamy.
Scientist – Genetic Resources
Ken Hoshikawa joined WorldVeg in May 2019. Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Japan’s RIKEN Institute in 2012. From 2012-2015 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tsukuba, and later served there as an Assistant Professor from 2015-2018. He joined the Biological Resources and Postharvest Division of the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) in October 2018. In May 2019 he was seconded to the World Vegetable Center to conduct collaborative research on heat tolerant tomato and the genetic diversity of Amaranthus sp. Dr. Hoshikawa’s research includes evaluation of internal control genes for the development of dwarf tomato cultivars, and improvement of transient expression systems for plant recombinant protein production.
Improved tomato production brings happiness through increased income to farmers
Applying improved cropping techniques makes a tomato farmer in Assam, India a role model for other local tomato producers.
Expanding the Mungbean Network
There’s plenty of room for more countries to participate in an international network devoted to this remarkable legume.