In this issue:
The European Research Area - First Monitoring of
the Results achieved in the 7th Framework Programme (2007-2013) of the
European Union
Since the adoption of the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs, the
European Union (EU) has committed itself to realise a fully open and
competitive European Research Area (ERA). Advancing towards research
excellence, raising the efficiency and effectiveness of the European
research system, increasing the openness and attractiveness of the ERA, as
well as developing a strategic partnership with Member States in
international science and technology cooperation and a closer relationship
with neighbouring countries, represent the medium to long term aims of
research policy.
The seventh Framework Programme (FP7) (2007-2013), with a total budget
of over 50 billion EUR represents a key tool in responding to Europe's
need in terms of jobs and competitiveness, and in maintaining leadership
in the global knowledge economy. It also represents the arena where
European researchers need to compete in order to get most of their
funding.
The aim of FP7 is to contribute to the EU becoming the word's leading
research area. This requires the Framework Programme to be strongly
focused on promoting and investing in world-class, state-of-the-art
research, based primarily upon the principle of excellence in research,
towards the development of a knowledge-based economy and society.
In order to capture the broad range of research activities, FP7 is
divided into four categories, corresponding to four types of objectives:
co-operation, ideas, people, and capacities. For each type of objective,
there is a specific programme corresponding to the main areas of EU
research policy.
The "Co-operation" programme provides project funding for
collaborative, trans-national research. The programme is organised through
thematic priorities such as health, energy, transport, food and
agriculture, nanotechnologies etc.
The "Ideas" programme provides project funding for
individuals and their teams engaged in frontier research. The programme is
managed by the European Research Council.
The "People" programme funds actions to improve the mobility
of researchers between sectors and countries world-wide. It is managed
under the Marie Curie programme.
The "Capacities" programme funds actions that are designed to
improve Europe's research infrastructure and the research capacities of
small medium size enterprises (SMEs).
The first analysis of the results achieved in the first period of FP7
implementation are considered positively by the European Commission.
Almost 36,000 research and development proposals were received during the
first 2 years, with more than 5,500 proposals (equivalent to EUR 10
billion) selected for funding. The success rate varies between 18% and 36%
in the different programmes.
Higher education institutes and research organisations are the main
beneficiaries of the FP7, accounting for 60% of applicants and 59% of the
budget. SMEs represent 16.4% of the numbers of applicants and 14% of the
budget. SMEs' participation is quite high in the ICT, health,
nanotechnologies and transport thematic areas.
The participation of the 12 "new" EU Member States in terms
of numbers of submitted and retained proposals is still lower than their
share of the EU 27 research workforce. Some countries (i.e. United
Kingdom, The Netherlands, Sweden and Finland) are very aggressive and able
to get back to their institutions a higher amount of money, in comparison
to that allocated by their countries. Other countries (i.e. France, Italy
and Spain) are less competitive and have a much lower capacity to get back
the same amount of money initially transferred by their countries to the
European Commission.
Relevant topics in plant pathology are mostly tackled within the
Co-operation programme, in the Food and Agriculture area as well as under
Environment. However, researchers must get acquainted with the fact that
less and less calls are devoted to plant pathology. An interdisciplinary
approach is necessary in order to be able to build broad partnership,
which include SMEs, capable to fully respond to the requests of the few
calls available in the field of plant health.
10 May 2009 M L Gullino
Second Issue of "Food Security"
Richard Strange has written an editorial titled "In this
issue" for the second issue (June 2009) of the new journal "Food
Security". It is reproduced below and the source is: Strange R N
(2009) In this issue. In: Food security: The science, sociology and
economics of food production and access to food, vol 2, 2009, pp. 1-2,
Springer Science + Business Media B V & International Society for
Society for Plant Pathology.
The papers published in this second issue of Food Security document
some of the multiple causes of food insecurity. Topics include
desertification, flooding, adaptation of remote communities to modern
technology, seasonality of food crops and the corresponding dearth between
harvests, lack of iron in traditionally consumed food, resulting in
anaemia, and taboos that inhibit people from supplementing their diets
with nutritious wild fruits that are readily available. One paper also
considers the vulnerability of our crops to acts of agroterrorism.
Conversely, the amelioration of dietary deficits is treated by several
authors. Procedures include the establishment of policies that buffer
countries against price swings of food materials on the international
market, encouragement of domestic agriculture, a framework for deciding
whether aid should be given in cash or in kind and construction of a dryer
out of simple materials, which can be used to remove water from produce
and consequently dramatically prolong its shelf life.
There is a single review article by Lindsay Stringer in which she
explores the relationship between desertification and food security. She
shows that both share considerable common ground and argues that this
should be recognised in interventions. These, she contends, should be
approached from the perspective of livelihoods and vulnerability.
The first original paper by Ian Douglas takes up the theme of the
physical environment, but here the concern is flooding rather than
desertification. He points out that climate change is likely to cause an
increase in the magnitude, depth and duration of floods in South Asia and
that there is a gender disparity in those who suffer, women and children
faring worse than men.
The next paper by Paul Dorosh is also concerned with South Asia. He
points out that the sharp rise in international cereal prices in 2007 and
2008 had a profound impact on the food security of countries in this area
but cautions against over-reaction with policies that ultimately slow
economic growth and inhibit poverty reduction. Instead, he advocates the
accumulation of national stocks to prevent very large price increases,
reliance on international trade to limit the need for government
interventions in most years, promotion of domestic agriculture and
targeted safety net programmes for poor households which, ideally, would
be cash based.
The principle of cash distribution versus direct food aid is taken up
by Christopher Barrett and co-authors. Building on a previously published
decision tree, these authors propose a question and analysis framework to
help operational agencies anticipate the likely impact of these
alternatives.
Andrew Scourse and Corinne Wilkins give a fascinating account of food
security issues on a Pacific atoll. They describe how traditional methods
of ensuring adequate food are gradually being eroded by the advent of
modern technology and products. These include boats with outboard motors,
facilitating movement between islands but incurring a requirement for
fuel, modern equipment for fishing and exotic food, which is welcomed, but
is dependent on the irregular arrival of government ships.
A staggering 2 billion of the world's population are anaemic. Emily
Levitt and co-authors analysed the diets of communities living in the
Balkh Province of Afghanistan as a preliminary to establishing a
comprehensive programme for the control of anaemia in the north of the
country.
Many countries face conditions in which the season for a given crop is
short and they lack equipment to prolong the shelf life of the produce.
Antoine Nonclerq and co-authors demonstrate the feasibility of
constructing solar powered drying equipment in Mali from locally obtained
materials and demonstrate that tomatoes dried in a prototype may be kept
for over a year, whereas the harvesting season is only 3 months.
Ethiopia is a country with a relatively rich flora containing many
plants that produce edible fruits. Mengistu Fentahun and Herbert Hager
show that, although at least some of these are prevalent throughout the
year and would do much to enhance the local diet, there is little
enthusiasm for their consumption owing to local taboos and customs.
Finally, Frédéric Suffert and co-authors consider the risk to food
security posed by the malicious introduction of plant pathogens. Although
the development of a serious outbreak of plant disease from such
introductions is far from certain, the disruption of trade is likely to be
a casualty.
R Strange, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Birkbeck
College, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK. e-mail: r.strange@sbc.bbk.ac.uk
Plant Virus Epidemiology - ISPP Subject Matter
Committee
Professor Alberto Fereres, Chair of the ISPP Plant Virus Epidemiology
Subject Matter Committee, advises that their next meeting, the
International Plant Virus Epidemiology Symposium, will be held at Cornell,
New York, USA, on 20-24 June 2010. The meeting is being organized jointly
with the Plant Virus Ecology Network (PVEN).
See "Coming Events" and the ISPP Plant Virus Epidemiology
Subject Matter Committee web-site at http://www.isppweb.org/ICPVE/
.
10th Arab Congress of Plant Protection
The second announcement, call for abstracts and information on the
program and the component symposia for the 10th Arab Congress of Plant
Protection has arrived and it may be seen by clicking
here. The Congress is being organized by the Arab Society for Plant
Protection in collaboration with the National Council for Scientific
Research. It will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Beirut, Lebanon from
26-30 October 2009. The e-mail address is acpp2009@cnrs.edu.lb
, and the Society's web-site is www.asplantprotection.org.
Grapevine Trunk Diseases - ISPP Subject Matter
Committee
The International Council on Grapevine Trunk Diseases and the ISPP
Subject Matter Committee on Grapevine Trunk Diseases now have a
web-site http://www.icgtd.org.
Laura Mugnai laura.mugnai@unifi.it
informed the ISPP Newsletter about this and also provided the following
announcement of the 7th International Workshop on Grapevine Trunk Diseases
to be held from 17-21 January 2010 in Chile. It will be organized by Jaime
Auger and Marcela Esterio of the Universidad de Chile. Click
here to access the 1st circular. It provides details about the
organisation, registration, accommodation and submission of abstracts.
Cassava mosaic virus
Cassava mosaic disease, which was highly destructive to cassava plants
in Nigeria in the early 1970s, is reported to have emerged again in a more
damaging form., which might wipe out the entire crop in Nigeria, Cameroon,
Ghana and Togo. This is according to a recent release (23 April, 2009) by
ProMED-mail http://www.promedmail.org.
a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.
Nigeria is currently a leading producer of cassava and earns much
foreign exchange from export of cassava. The new situation has prompted an
emergency response from the International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture and other Nigerian agricultural experts.
IPMnet and its NEWS
Once again, readers are reminded of "IPMnet" an Integrated
Pest Management Network concerning "Global Principles, Local
Practices". IPMnet NEWS is produced and provided as a free,
electronic and global IPM information resource.
IPMnet NEWS is an electronic newsletter published every six weeks year
round. It delivers current crop pest management and IPM information linked
to: new developments, research, and technology; extension and economic
impacts; a field focus; current publications; email links for
authoritative contacts; highlights of, and access to, recent literature;
plus, internet links to many other related information sources.
IPMnet NEWS emphasizes contemporary, environmentally aware, economic
approaches for managing/controlling weeds, pathogens, insects, nematodes,
and vertebrate pests in crops and amenity plantings, as well as preventing
or containing crop-related invasive species.
IPMnet NEWS is not sponsored by, affiliated with, nor beholden to any
private sector interests. Current financial underwriting comes from: the
USA Agency for International Development's IPM Collaborative Research
Support Program; the USA Dept. of Agriculture's Cooperative State
Research, Education, and Extension Service; and, the Integrated Plant
Protection Center at Oregon State University, USA.
The NEWS cooperates closely with both the International Society for
Pest Information and the International Association for the Plant
Protection Sciences, as well as several other professional organizations
and groups.
To contact A E Deutsch, editor/coordinator, or to place an order, go
to IPMnet@science.oregonstate.edu.
A Century at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK
To help celebrate 100 years of genetics at the John Innes Centre,
Norwich, UK, there will be a very special symposium in September 2009. See
"Coming Events". Paul Nurse will open the symposium with the
Bateson Lecture and Sydney Brenner will close with "Genetics 100
Years On". In between will be reflections on areas of human interest
that have been transformed by a genetic approach, examining where they are
now, and where they might be in the next 100 years. Speakers will be David
Stern, Stewart Cole, Michael Ashburner, Jonathan Hodgkin, John Doebley,
Walter Bodmer, Linda Partridge, Michael Stratton, Chris Tyler-Smith, Leena
Peltonen-Palotie, Rico Coen, Eric Wieschaus, Rich Losick, Mark Patshne,
Daniel St Johnson, David Baulcombe and Caroline Dean.
A one day meeting on the history of genetics immediately precedes the
symposium. See: http://www.jic.ac.uk/centenary/events/historyofgenetics/programme.htm.
An Alumni Day follows the symposium for meeting up with old friends.
See: http://www.jic.ac.uk/centenary/events/alumniday/programme.htm.
The Organising Committee comprises Professor Keith Roberts (Chair, JIC
Emeritus Professor), Professor Chris Lamb (Director JIC), Professor Sir
David Hopwood (JIC Emeritus Professor), Professor Enrico Coen, (JIC), Dr
Sarah Wilmot (JIC), Professor Sir Paul Nurse (Rockefeller, NY, USA) and
Sir Walter Bodmer (Oxford, UK).
This information was sent from dee.rawsthorne@bbsrc.ac.uk
and see below for more from BBSRC.
The Genome Analysis Centre also at Norwich, UK
The John Innes Centre is an Institute of the UK Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), which has just announced The
Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) to be based on the site of the Institute as
part of the Norwich Research Park. The new national centre TGAC will
analyse plant, animal and microbial genomes, and will provide genome
sequencing in helping to improve food security, to protect UK agriculture
from exotic animal disease and exploit weaknesses in microbes to develop
new ways to kill superbugs. It will also be a centre of excellence in
bioinformatics to ensure that the data generated by its genome analysis,
and that of other facilities, can be effectively collected and analysed.
See: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/media/releases/2009/090402_genome_analysis_centre.html
TGAC will start almost immediately and will be formally opened in June.
BBSRC is providing the majority of the £13.5M investment in the Centre
and will underwrite its running costs for several years but local partners
in the region are all making significant contributions.
2009 CABI Global Summit - food security
The CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International) Global
Summit will be held in London, UK. from 19-21 October 2009. It will gather
environmental and agricultural ministers and other senior government
officials from around the world. Also present will be donors and
representatives from international development and corporate organizations
to consider policies, practices and technologies that can help improve
food security in a climate of change.
See: https://www.cabiglobalsummit.com/delegate_landing.aspx.
Coming Events
3rd International Symposium on Crop Plant Resistance to Biotic and
Abiotic Factors: Current Potential and Future Demands in Berlin, Germany.
14-16 May 2009. Contact: dpg@phytomedizin.org.
See: www.dpg-bcpc-symposium.de.
Meeting on "Plant Abiotic Stress - from signaling to
development" in Tartu, Estonia. 14-17 May 2009. Contact: Dr Hannes
Kollist inpas@frens.ee. Phone:
+372-737-4814. See: http://www.ut.ee/inpas/.
8th International PGPR Workshop in Portland, Oregon, USA. 17-22 May
2009. See: www.capps.wsu.edu/pgpr
.
Training Program: Integrated Pest Management and Food Safety in
Wageningen, The Netherlands. 18 May-12 Jun 2009. Contact: training.wi@wur.nl.
"Fast Forward" - the annual spring meeting of the Royal
Netherlands Society of Plant Pathology (KNPV) in Wageningen, The
Netherlands. 25 May 2009. See: http://www.knpv.org/en/.
14th International Sclerotinia Workshop in Wilmington, North Carolina,
USA. 31 May-4 June 2009. See: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/sclerotinia_conference/index.html
.
SFP National Congress (in French) in Lyon, France. 8-11 June 2009.
Canadian Phytopathological Society Annual General Meeting in Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada. 22-25 June 2009. See: www.cps-scp.ca
.
XXIth International Symposium on Virus and Virus-Like Diseases of
Temperate Fruit Crops and XIIth International Symposium on Small Fruit
Virus Diseases in Germany. 5-10 July 2009. See http://www.phytomedizin.org/index.php?id=193
. Source: Professor Dr Wilhelm Jelkmann Wilhelm.Jelkmann@jki.bund.de
Julius Kühn-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Kulturpflanzen,
Institut für Pflanzenschutz in Obst- und Weinbau, Schwabenheimer Str.
101, 69221 Dossenheim, Germany.
Plant ROS 2009 in Helsinki, Finland. 8-10 July 2009. Contact:
organizers@pog2009.org . See: www.pog2009.org/
.
International Conference on Fungal Evolution and Charles Darwin:
"From Morphology to Molecules" at the Thailand Science Park,
Pathumthani, Thailand. 9-11 July 2009. See: http://www.biotec.or.th/darwinconf2009.
14th International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions in
Québec City, Canada. 19-23 July 2009. See: www.ismpminet.org/meetings.
APS Annual Meeting 2009 at the Portland Convention Center, Portland,
Oregon, USA. 1-5 August 2009. See: http://www.apsnet.org
.
14th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference and 11th SABRAO Conference
in Cairns, North Queensland, Australia. 10-14 August 2009. See: http://www.plantbreeding09.com.au/.
I All Africa Horticultural Congress: "Grown Under the Sun" at
the Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya. 31 August-3 September. See: http://www.globalhort.org/news-events/all-africa-horticulture-congress/.
IX International Symposium on Thysanoptera and Tospoviruses at Sea
World Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. 31 August-4 September
2009. See: http://www.istt09.org/content/view/13/27/.
10th International Cotton Conference "Natural Fibres-Their
Attractiveness in Multidirectional Applications" in Gdynia, Poland.
3-4 September 2009. See: http://www.gca.org.pl/x.php/2,326/10th-International-Cotton
Conference.html.
2nd World Seed Conference "Responding to the Challenges of the
Changing World: The Role of New Plant Varieties and High Quality Seed in
Agriculture" at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. 8-10 September 8-10,
2009. See: http://worldseedconference.org/en/worldseedconference/home.html.
"Genetics 100 Years On" a symposium at the John Innes Centre,
Norwich, UK. 9-11 September 2009. See: http://www.jic.ac.uk/centenary/events/Genetics100YearsOn/.
BSPP Presidential Meeting 2009 "Darwin to Disease; Crops and their
pathogens" - Celebrating Darwin's 200th Birthday - University Museum,
Oxford, UK. 22 September 2009. See: http://www.bspp.org.uk/.
Annual Meeting of SIPAV, the Italian Society for Plant Pathology, in
Locorotondo, Bari, Italy. 28 September-1 October 2009.
APPS 2009 "Plant Health Management-An Integrated Approach" at
the Civic Precinct, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. 30 September-2 October
2009. See: http://www.apps2009.org.au/.
Agriculture: Africa's "Engine for Growth - Plant Science &
Biotechnology hold the Key" at Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts,
UK. 12-14 October 2009. See: www.aab.org.uk/contentok.php?id=83&basket=wwsshowconfdets.
The 13th World Forestry Congress (Forests in development - a vital
balance) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 18-25 October 2009. See http://www.wfc2009.org/index_1024.html
. E-mail: info@wfc2009.org .
9th International Congress on Plant Molecular Biology in St Louis,
Missouri, USA. 25-30 October 2009. Contact: ipmb2009@missouri.edu.
See: www.ipmb2009.org.
The 10th Arab Congress of Plant Protection in Beirut, Lebanon. 26-30
October 2009. See also flyer linked from an item in the May 2009
Newsletter. Contact: aspp@terra.net.lb
or acpp2009@cnrs.edu.lb.
"First International Conference of Mycops" in the Institute
of Mycology and Plant Pathology, University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
9-11 November 2009. Contact: Professor Dr Rukshana Bajwa director@mpp.pu.edu.pk
or the Conference Secretary Dr Sarwar Alam drssalam@yahoo.com.
British Crop Production Council, BCPC Congress 2009, at the Scottish
Exhibition & Conference Centre, Glasgow, United Kingdom. 9-11 November
2009. See: www.bcpccongress.com.
The 2009 International Conference on Horticulture in Bangalore,
Karnataka, India. 9-12 November 2009. See: http://www.pnasf.org/ich2009.htm
.
5th International Conference on Plant Pathology, with the theme
"Plant pathology in the globalized era", at the Indian
Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. 10-13 November 2009.
Contact: ipsdis@indiatimes.com
or ipsdis@yahoo.com .
National Soybean Rust Symposium in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. 9-11
December 2009. Contact: dorrance.1@osu.edu.
7th International Workshop on Grapevine Trunk Diseases in Santa Cruz,
Chile. 17-21 January 2010. See: a link to a circular in a news item in the
May 2009 ISPP Newsletter.
Global Biosecurity 2010, Safeguarding Agriculture and the Environment,
at the Brisbane Convention Center, Queensland, Australia. 23 February-3
March 2010. See: www.globalbiosecurity2010.com.
Phytophthora Diseases in Forest Trees and Natural Ecosystems - 5th
Meeting of the IUFRO Working Group in Rotorua, New Zealand. 7-12 March
2010. Queries to Pam Taylor, phone: +64-7-3435727, Fax: +64-7-3480952.
Email: pam.taylor@scionresearch.com.
13th Congress of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union in Rome,
Italy. 13-18 June 2010. See: www.mpunion.com.
Contact: laura.mugnai@unifi.it.
12th IUPAC International Congress of Pesticide Chemistry in Melbourne,
Australia. 4-8 July 2010. See: http://www.iupacicpc2010.org/.
9th International Mycological Congress (IMC9) in Edinburgh, Scotland,
UK. 1-6 August 2010. See: http://www.imc9.info/.
APS Annual Meeting 2010 at Opryland, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 7-11
August 2010. See: http://www.apsnet.org
.
International Plant Virus Epidemiology Symposium in Cornell, New York,
USA. 20-24 June 2010. See: http://www.isppweb.org/ICPVE/.
Contact: Professor Alberto Fereres at afereres@ccma.csic.es.
XXVIII International Horticultural Congress (IHC2010) in Lisbon,
Portugal. 22-27 August 2010. Contact: info@ihc2010.org.
See: http://www.ihc2010.org.
The 8th International Conference on Pseudomonas syringae and Related
Pathogens in Oxford, UK. 31 August-3 September 2010. See: www.reading.ac.uk/Psyringae2010
. Contact: syringae2010@plants.ox.ac.uk
.
The 18th Biennial Australasian Plant Pathology Meeting and 4th Asian
Conference for Plant Pathology, a Joint Conference, at the Darwin
Convention Centre, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. 27-29 April
2011. Watch: http://www.australasianplantpathologysociety.org.au/
.
Joint Meeting of APS and IAPPS in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. 6-10 August
2011. See: http://www.apsnet.org.
10th International Congress of Plant Pathology 2013 (ICPP2013)
"Bio-security, Food Safety and Plant Pathology: The Role of Plant
Pathology in a Globalized Economy" in Beijing, China. 25-31 August
2013. Watch: http://www.isppweb.org/congress.asp
.
