Paintings by artist Mamani Mamani celebrate the potato’s amazing variety.

Potatoes are the world’s most important tuber crop, a food staple for more than a billion people. Recognizing how many people in developing countries depend on this prolific crop for their very survival, the United Nations has declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato.

In the Andean region of Peru and Bolivia, where the potato was first cultivated more than 7,000 years ago, the PROINPA Foundation, a SANREM CRSP partner, is promoting academic and cultural activities showing the significance of this highly nutritious food. Within this framework, the renowned Bolivian artist Roberto Mamani Mamani has joined PROINPA in the celebration with a series of paintings titled, “Potato: An Andean treasure.” The pictures are dedicated to the cultural, historic, and economic value of the potato and pay homage to the men and women who conserve and cultivate this invaluable crop. All proceeds from sale of the paintings will be used for conservation of native potato genetic diversity.

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Dr. Theo Dillaha

SANREM CRSP Program Director Theo Dillaha was among experts testifying in Washington July 16 at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Agriculture Subcommittee on Specialty Crops, Rural Development and Foreign Agriculture. Subcommittee Chair Mike McIntyre (D-NC) said in his opening statement at the hearing that the United States has a large commitment to delivering food aid to address the current hunger crisis around the world, but an increase in food aid is necessary. He emphasized the importance of continued agricultural research and the proper allocation of funds to enhance food production capabilities in developing countries.

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Dr. Alton Thompson

Alton Thompson, chair of the SANREM CRSP’s board of directors and dean of the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, has been appointed interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. Thompson will become NCA&T’s second-highest official on July 1, succeeding Janice G. Brewington, who is retiring.

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Dr. S.K. De Datta

S.K. De Datta, administrative principal investigator for SANREM CRSP, has been recognized in the Philippines for his contribution to agriculture in that country and to the Green Revolution in Asia in the 1960s. The College of Agriculture at University of the Philippines-Los Baños recognized De Datta at a ceremony on May 20, and the International Rice Research Institute honored him on May 26.

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Modules can help track diseases like stripe rust (Madras disease).

Not even the best teacher can reach students effectively without good course materials, a limitation in many parts of the developing world. At universities in resource-poor countries where training of agriculturists and scientists is key, libraries may not be well stocked, and software needed to analyze data and develop predictive models may be unavailable or quite expensive.

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After touring tree and vegetable plots, field day participants compare notes.

The Philippines’ native malunggay tree is a treasure – almost every part of it can be used for food. Its young pods can be prepared like green beans, its seeds can be roasted like nuts, and its dark-green leaves, rich in Vitamin C, protein, and iron, can be used fresh like spinach or dried as a seasoning.

When SANREM CRSP researchers introduced a new malunggay variety in the Philippines’ Lantapan watershed, it was an instant hit. Farmers were surprised that it grew so well in the region’s acid soil. They clamored for seedlings and cultivation guidelines. The slender trees are so much in demand that they are disappearing from test plots Continue reading →

In Bolivia, residents make a list of resources like forests, fields, and streams.

To give people what they need, it helps to know what they already have. That’s the premise for community and household surveys that SANREM CRSP researchers are completing, the first step in figuring out what people in developing countries need most to improve their lives and incomes. Continue reading →

This coloring book for youngsters has a message for parents too.

In Zambia, where hygiene and safety are critical issues in food processing, researchers are using a new tool to get their message across: a coloring book for kids. “Protect Yourself With Handwashing” features three smiling youngsters in a cartoon car of citrus, melons, and vegetables in vibrant hues. Though its target audience is children of employees at food processing and distribution centers in Lundazi and Mfuwe, the book also reminds parents that good hygiene begins at home.

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A hippopotamus in Zambia, where habitat is threatened.

Its name means “water horse,” apt for the hippopotamus, which spends most its life in deep water holes. But in Zambia’s Luangwa River region, drought, deforestation, and farming are threatening the streams that the hippos call home.

Using aerial and satellite images, rain gauges, soil and water samples, Conrad Heatwole, associate professor in Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech, is studying how agriculture, commerce, and tourism affect the water supply and, in turn, the wildlife in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park Continue reading →

A Madagascar forest damaged by illegal logging is recovering, writes the scientific team who visited the site in 2005 and again in May 2007.

“The forest is recovering through natural regeneration,” the team wrote in a comprehensive report released in September. “At this point, there do not seem to be major incursions of invasive species.” A logging road has been rendered impassable to vehicles, the team wrote, due to erosion, gullying, landslides, and bridge washouts Continue reading →