by Brassica

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by Brassica

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WorldVeg East and Southeast Asia participates in KU Hi-trees

WorldVeg East and Southeast Asia/Oceania staff took part in Kasetsart University’s (KU) “KU Hi-trees: A get-together for International Organizations” held on 16 June 2017 at the university’s Bangkok campus. The event brought together KU senior management team and staff from international organizations to discuss their areas of expertise and explore different ways they can work together.

KU Acting President Dr. Chongrak Wachrinrat welcomed the participants and noted that the university recognizes the need to build partnerships not only with higher education institutions but also with international organizations that can extend the university’s global outreach.

Staff from the Asia and Pacific Seed Association (APSA), CIRAD, RECOFTC, and Winrock International attended the event, and each organization had the opportunity to introduce its work during the presentation portion of the program. WorldVeg Lead Scientist for Impact Evaluation Pepijn Schreinemachers gave an overview of the Center, its flagship programs, and current collaboration with KU.

 

Story and photos: Fenton Beed

 

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(left to right): Chongrak Wachrinrat (Acting President, KU), Rob Turner (Winrock International), Chandra Silori (RECOFTC), Laurent Vaysse (CIRAD), Pepijn Schreinemachers (WorldVeg), Heidi Gallant (APSA), Buncha Chinnasri (Assistant to the Acting President, KU)

WorldVeg Lead Scientist for Impact Evaluation, Pepijn Schreinemachers (right) receiving token of appreciation from KU Acting President, Dr. Chongrak Wachrinrat

(left to right) Somchit Pruangwitayakun, Kanokwan Rattanamung, and Sunant Larpai at the WorldVeg booth.

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Mrs. Anjani Rani Das, leader of five women in a self-help group that produces grafted tomato seedlings.

Mrs. Anjani Rani Das, leader of five women in a self-help group that produces grafted tomato seedlings.

Pioneered by AVRDC and widely promoted for over 20 years by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), grafted tomatoes grown under plastic shelters during the summer rainy season have provided a very good income for many farmers. During their five-day visit to Bangladesh from 20-24 May 2013, AVRDC Director General Dyno Keatinge and South Asia Regional Director Warwick Easdown met with famers in Jessore district in southwest Bangladesh who are growing summer tomato and producing tomato seedlings. Demand for grafted seedlings is increasing as more tomato farmers face problems with bacterial wilt. Mrs. Anjani Rani Das is the leader of five women in a self-help group (one of six such groups in Jessore and Barisal districts) that began growing grafted tomatoes using eggplant rootstocks provided by AVRDC. This year the group is planning to produce 5000 grafted seedlings to fulfill local orders, in addition to 5000 non-grafted seedlings. Grafted seedlings take a lot of effort to produce, but can be sold at 7 Taka each as compared to 1 Taka each for non-grafted seedlings. With training from AVRDC and the provision of simple seedling shelters, the grafted plants are providing a new source of income for the women and their families. The scion is local tomato variety BARI Hybrid No.4, and the rootstock is open pollinated eggplant variety EG203 from AVRDC. By growing only half a dozen eggplants, and bagging the flowers to prevent cross-pollination, Mrs. Das and her team can ensure enough pure seed for next year’s rootstocks. The women demonstrated their achievements to AVRDC staff and were interested to learn what other women’s groups were doing. Dyno complemented them on their success and the obvious health of their families and shared the success of other women’s groups in producing seedlings of crops such as peppers. Future AVRDC work in the district will involve trials to find tomato scions with better virus resistance, and testing of new lines for production under cover and in the open field.

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