On behalf of Canada's Deans of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, John Kennelly, Dean of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta collaborated with Alastair Cribb, Dean of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary in submitting a statement to the press. Click here to see the full statement.

Producing more food with the same or fewer resources has been one of humankind's most remarkable accomplishments over the years. Since 1990, the rate of yield improvements has slowed in most countries, including Canada. This slowdown is reflected in record high food prices and elevated concerns about food security. If the trend is not reversed there will be trouble. In the next 40 years, world food demand is expected to double again. Meeting the needs without destroying the Earth's resource base depends on growth in agricultural productivity and efficiency. Canada must invest more in agricultural and food research, the principal source of new technologies, environmental efficiencies, agricultural yield growth and nutritionally superior foods.

Investments in agricultural and food research have very high internal rates of return and create excellent benefits. Despite this, agricultural and food research investment in Canada continues to languish. Such investment can come from the public (through taxes), the producers (through commodity levies) and the private sector (through product sales levies). An holistic approach is needed encompassing all three sources, as has been used effectively in Australia, where wheat research investment is now four times higher than in Canada.

Producer-funded research plays an important role. Levies are collected on farm product sales and then reinvested in research by producer-managed boards. The levy is equitable because the cost is borne by consumers and producers who most directly benefit from productivity improvement. The success of the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, the Dairy Farmers of Canada and the Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation research programs demonstrates how powerful this producer-funded model can be.

A ProMED-mail post on 4 April 2012 at http://www.promedmail.org reported that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the USA recently confirmed the presence of citrus greening, also known as Huanglongbing, in samples from an Asian citrus psyllid and from plant tissue collected from a lemon/pummelo tree in a residential neighborhood in Los Angeles County, California. This is the first confirmation of the disease in California. The collection was done by the California Department of Food and Agriculture during ongoing citrus surveys. The Department is enacting an emergency quarantine in an 8 km radius around the site of detection. APHIS will put a parallel interstate quarantine area in place.

This working group as 2013 IWGPVFV will hold a symposium in Obihiro, Japan, in 2013. It is shaping up to be one of the most productive and exciting meeting in recent years. IWGPVFV was officially launched at the 5th International Congress of Plant Pathology in Kyoto, Japan, in 1988 following an initiative by Professor Chuji Hiruki, the recent ISPP Treasurer. The group organizes symposia at intervals of approximately 3 years in different countries in the world. Previous countries having meetings organized by the IWGPVFV were; Germany, 1990; Canada, 1993; UK, 1996; USA, 1999; Switzerland, 2002; Italy, 2005; Germany, 2008; Belgium, 2001. Membership is free of charge and open to all who are actively engaged in any aspect of research work on soil-borne viruses, their fungal vectors, and/or their interaction. Enthusiasm is building up as many plant pathologists around the world plan their participation in 2013 ICPP in Beijing, China.

The 2013 symposium is planned to be a 4-day meeting prior to the main congress of ICPP and will include a welcome reception, oral paper presentation, poster session, conference dinner and field excursion.  Detailed programs including travel plans and an estimate of  expenses can be obtained by contacting Dr Tetsuo Maoka, Local Organizer, NARO Hokkaido Agricultural Research Center, Sapporo 062-8555, Japan. The second announcement containing the description of the program and other related information will be available shortly.

The International Committee on Plant Virus Epidemiology is pleased to inform that IITA is organizing the 12th International Plant Virus Epidemiology (IPVE) Symposium from 28 January to 1 February 2013, in Arusha, Tanzania. The symposium will be held under the auspices of the International Committee on Plant Virus Epidemiology of the International Society for Plant Pathology (www.isppweb.org/ICPVE).

Professor Jonathan Jones of The Sainsbury Laboratory in the UK has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 E C Stakman Award, for his outstanding achievements in the field of plant pathology.

Jonathan has made many sustained contributions to plant pathology. His group was among the first to isolate and characterize a disease resistance gene. By cloning the Cf-9 gene in 1994, he demonstrated that resistance induced in plants towards pathogens is based on specific classes of innate immune receptors. His discovery that an R gene codes for a receptor-like protein was a validation of the concept of gene-for-gene and elicitor-receptor interactions that originated from the work E C Stakman, Harold Flor, and other pioneers of plant pathology.

Jonathan has also been a strong advocate of the use of transgenic approaches to control plant diseases. He has sought to ensure that his research can be applied to solve serious problems of disease in agriculture, and so be of great benefit worldwide. A field trial of late blight-resistant potatoes is testament to this practical approach and his efforts to engage with the public, media, farmers and NGOs during this trial have typified his open approach to talking about GM and plant biotechnology.

Dr Solke De Boer has diligently served the ISPP as a member of the ISPP Committee on the Taxonomy of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria. This committee is very active and requires a great deal of its members. Solke�s service to ISPP is commendable because he has been a valuable and active participant since 1992. He has been an integral part of the development of the List of Names of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria and updates to the list as well as an active participant in the writing of papers by the committee to explain the taxonomy of bacterial plant pathogens. See: http://www.isppweb.org/about_tppb.asp.

Dr Solke De Boer has announced his retirement from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the ISPP Committee on the Taxonomy of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria as of 30 April 2012.   Having immigrated with his family to Canada from the Netherlands as a young child, Solke De Boer grew up in Canada and studied crop protection at the University of British Columbia.  He obtained his PhD in plant pathology with a minor in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1976 and then took employment as a research scientist with AAFC at the Vancouver Research Station.  At the closing of the Vancouver research centre in 1996, he moved to Prince Edward Island to work on plant health with the regulatory division of AAFC which later became the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).  During his tenure at both AAFC and CFIA, Solke�s research focused primarily, but not exclusively, on bacterial diseases of potato.  He studied the diversity of the soft rot erwinias (now pectobacteria) and contributed to a better understanding of the bacterial ring rot disease caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus. The serological and molecular tests he developed for detecting the potato bacterial pathogens are widely used today and played a part in achieving the level of detection technologies for phytopathogens available today.

The International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS) has asked for publication of a reminder about its 31st General Assembly on 5-9 July 2012 in Suzhou, China. The co-hosts are the Bureau of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China, the Bureau of International Cooperation, CAS, China, and the Department of International Affairs, China Association for Science and Technology, China. The theme of the conference is �Promoting Biological Sciences for a Better Life�.

Two publications from APS will help with understanding within the genus Phytophthora.

One is a review paper by Laurens P N M Kroon, Henk Brouwer, Arthur W A M de Cock and Francine Govers from the Netherlands in the April 2012 issue of Phytopathology 102 (4) 348-364. It is entitled �The Genus Phytophthora Anno 2012� and can be accessed in abstract form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-01-11-0025. The review reminds that Phytophthora literally means plant destroyer, as coined in the 19th century by Anton de Bary when he investigated the disease underlying the Great Irish Famine. Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of potato late blight, was the first species in a genus that at present has over 100 recognized members. In the last decade, the number of recognized Phytophthora species has nearly doubled and new species are added almost on a monthly basis. The review presents an overview of the 10 clades that are currently distinguished within the genus Phytophthora with special emphasis on new species that have been described since 1996.

The ISPP-Committee on the Taxonomy of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria (ISPP-CTPPB) has published an up-date of the List of Names of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria. See: http://www.isppweb.org/about_tppb.asp.

The publication is C T Bull, S H De Boer, T P Denny, G Firrao, M Fischer-Le Saux, G S Saddler, M Scortichini, D E Stead, Y Takikawa. (2012) List of New Names of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria (2008-2010) Journal of Plant Pathology 94 (1), 21-27. See:  http://dx.doi.org/10.4454/jpp.fa.2011.003.

The Melanesian Agricultural Information System (MAIS) is a three-country initiative to provide access to bibliographic and non-bibliographic information about research and development in the agriculture sector in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The scope of the databases is not restricted to just agriculture, but also includes information on forestry, fisheries and the environment.

Collaboration between researchers from the University of Leeds, UK, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Uganda, has resulted in transformation of Musa spp with defence against nematodes. The research was published on-line in March 2012 in Molecular Plant Pathology as �Generation of transgenic plantain (Musa spp.) with resistance to plant pathogenic nematodes� by Hugh Roderick, Leena Tripathi, Annet Babirye, Dong Wang, Jaindra Tripathi, Peter E Urwin and Howard J Atkinson.

See: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1364-3703.2012.00792.x.

Perhaps not known to many is the fact that there is a team of mycologists at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew Gardens in the UK. The team focuses on the systematics, conservation, and ecology of fungi. Around 100,000 species of fungi have so far been described, but most are still poorly known. It is estimated that total numbers are far greater and that over 90% of fungal species still await description. Research by the team is underpinned by the 1.25 million specimens in the Kew Fungarium. The work involves morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis, yielding monographic studies, checklists, local and regional mycotas, updated phylogenetic classification, and improved knowledge of ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes. The team also has a vital role in identifying material relevant to mushroom poisonings, following from enquiries received from medical consultants and hospital staff.

Paul Cannon leads research on the vast collection of fungi in The Fungarium. Kew�s work in mycology goes beyond cataloguing fungal diversity, with a strong focus on conservation, evolutionary biology, fungus-plant and fungus-insect interactions and sustainability. Further insight into the location, size, contents and activities of The Fungarium may be seen in a video at http://player.vimeo.com/video/36422624.

The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) is an international membership foundation that supports cocoa farmers and their families worldwide. WCF programs try to raise farmer incomes, encourage responsible and sustainable cocoa farming and strengthen communities. It attempts to promote a sustainable cocoa economy by providing cocoa farmers with the tools they need to grow more and better cocoa and to market it successfully. WCF's membership includes cocoa and chocolate manufacturers, processors, supply chain managers, and other companies worldwide, representing more than 80% of the global cocoa market.

The activities of WCF include work towards addressing the well-publicised problem of abuse of child labour. WCF states that it is strongly committed to elimination of the worst child labour abuses. It is a signatory to the 2001 Harkin-Engel Protocol, which commits the cocoa and chocolate industry to work with the governments of C�te d�Ivoire and Ghana to eradicate the worst child labour abuses. WCF believes that child labour is often a symptom of wider problems, including poverty. WCF programs expand educational opportunities for young people, provide literacy training, agricultural knowledge, leadership skills, and vocational education. It believes that helping the entire farm family will improve conditions for the children, and it works with its partners to increase educational opportunity for all family members. See: the WCF web-site for more coverage of this matter, and for notices of WCF meetings and a link to its Newsletter.