28 June 2013 www.avrdc.org Good postharvest practices are the precursor to quality produce. Ngoni Nenguwo explains how to harvest, pack and process fresh vegetables to deliver safe and wholesome food to consumers page 13-14 Bringing benefits to Bangladesh (...continued on page 2) Long-term partnerships bear fruit as improved vegetable production methods spread GraftinggiveswomennewoptionsPioneered 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 (left) 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.
Transcript
28 June 2013 www.avrdc.org
Good postharvest practices are the
precursor to quality produce. Ngoni Nenguwo explains how to harvest,
pack and process fresh vegetables
to deliver safe and wholesome food
to consumers
page 13-14
Bringing benefits to Bangladesh
(...continued on page 2)
Long-term partnerships bear fruit as improved vegetable production methods spread
Grafting gives women new options 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 (left) 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.
2
(...continued from page 1)
(...continued on page 3)
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 women
grafting the seedlings have found a new source of income for 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.
(left): AVRDC Director General Dyno Keatinge and Shawkat Begum (2nd from left), Chief of Party for the USAID/CIP project, meet members of a women’s self-help group. (right): Mrs. Das (left) and her group produce grafted seedlings in Jessore, Bangladesh.
(top left) Mrs. Das tends seedlings inside a grafting chamber. Producing grafted seedlings is labor-intensive, but the plants fetch a higher price from farmers. (right) Covered by a simple rain shelter, the seedlings develop strong root systems.
3
(...continued from page 2)
In Gaigut village, Jessore,
southwestern Bangladesh, the fields are covered with vast horizontal
trellises made of thousands of
slender jute poles on which bitter
gourd and snake gourd will be trained to grow. The area is a major
production center for bitter gourd,
and the unique trellis system is a local innovation developed by
farmers to enhance the productivity
of the crop and the quality of their
produce.
Dyno and Warwick viewed the
USAID-funded project AVRDC is implementing with the
International Potato Center (CIP)
in southern Bangladesh to promote
integrated crop management practices in vegetables, potato, and
sweet potato. Led by AVRDC staff
member Shahabuddin Ahmad and Chief of Party Shawkat
Begum, they met with senior staff
of the Bangladesh Agricultural
Research Institute (BARI) in Dhaka and viewed field operations in
Jessore.
Practices to control fruit fly in
cucurbits were first introduced in Bangladesh by the Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) Collaborative
Research Support Program more
than 15 years ago. With the commercial development of
pheromone traps and other IPM
supplies, thousands of farmers have been able to reduce their need for
fruit-fly sprays by at least 75%.
Along with project staff, Dyno and Warwick addressed a meeting of
more than 200 local farmers in
Gaigut after viewing their gourd crops. Dyno shared the overall work
of AVRDC and breeding breakthroughs in cucurbits,
particularly pumpkin, that will have
long-term benefits for local
farmers.
Successful IPM practices depend on
local innovation and careful management. AVRDC’s on-going
partnership with BARI, CIP, local
farmers and suppliers will be
essential for greater adoption of improved vegetable production
practices to benefit more farmers in
Bangladesh.
Local innovations for better bitter gourd
Pole trellises for bitter gourd and snake gourd in Gaigut village, Jessore, Bangladesh.
Pheromone traps are included in the integrated crop management practices promoted for vegetables, potato and sweet potato.
4 CORNUCOPIA
The Center in the news
Five indigenous vegetables received a beauty treatment when
AVRDC Nutritionist Ray-yu Yang and Assistant Specialist for Indigenous Vegetables Ruby Hsaio promoted the health
benefits of consuming amaranth, kangkong, Malabar spinach,
perilla, and purslane on YouBeauty, a website about nutrition
Biotechnology Industry Quarterly interviewed Yung-
Kuang Hang, Assistant
Specialist, Genetic Resources
and Seed, for a recent feature on the AVRDC Genebank.
Business Today, a weekly magazine in
Taiwan, made mention of the AVRDC Genebank in an article about seed
preservation in issue No. 861.
5 CORNUCOPIA
A hot introduction for heat‐tolerant broccoli
Can broccoli—typically a cool-
weather crop—take the heat? That’s the question the AVRDC breeding
team sought to answer with the
help of colleagues and
representatives from Taiwan seed companies and government
ministries on 19 June 2013 during
a field evaluation of heat-tolerant broccoli hybrids at
AVRDC headquarters. Ruby
Hsiao, Assistant Specialist for
Indigenous Vegetables, introduced
the new broccoli varieties to participants, who then walked
through the field trial to examine
the plants at close range.
Participants ranked the broccoli plants for vigor and also
commented on the tightness of the
head (or curd), the presence of bracts or leaves in the head, color
and other notable qualities and
characteristics.
Breeders will use information
collected during the field evaluation to select candidates for further
development. Broccoli is a popular
crop in Taiwan, but a challenging
one to grow in summer when temperatures are on the rise; heat-
tolerant varieties would help
farmers supply markets for a longer period.
6 CORNUCOPIA
AVRDC Director General Dyno
Keatinge was honored to present the Eighth Professor Hugh
Bunting Memorial Lecture to
the Tropical Agricultural
Association (TAA) at the University of Reading, UK on 17 June 2013.
His talk, entitled “Horticulture—for
Nourishing Families, Empowering Women and Commercializing
Smallholders” generated a lively
discussion during the lecture and
afterwards at the buffet reception. The paper will be published in the
next edition of the TAA Journal.
Mrs. Walton, spouse of Dr. Walton, Chairman of the AVRDC Board of
Directors from 2000-2003,
attended, as did Dr. Roger Smith,
who retired quite a few years ago from the UK Department of
International Development; he was
an early mentor of Dyno’s during the DG’s first professional
appointment for DFID in Trinidad
and Tobago (1978-1980). In his talk
Dyno acknowledged the mentorship of then-Professor
Emeritus of Tropical Agriculture,
Hugh Bunting, from 1993-1999, when the DG was a young professor
at the University of Reading. Dyno
left Reading in 1999 to take up the position of Director, Crop and
Resource Management Division at
the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria—a major CGIAR institute
Professor Bunting had been
instrumental in helping to establish in the late 1960s.
During his trip to the UK, Dyno met
with Dr. Andrew Bennett, who is on the Board of Trustees of the
former European Center for
Underutilized Crops, now called
Crop Innovations, which has moved its base of operations from
Southampton University to Bath
University, UK. Opportunities for potential collaboration with
AVRDC were discussed and efforts
for joint fundraising will be
considered in the areas of seed science. The safe storage and easy
germination of seed from the
Cucurbit family, such as bitter gourd, and with seed setting in
recalcitrant species such as slippery
cabbage (Abelmoschus manihot),
an important indigenous vegetable
in the Pacific Islands, are the types of issues that might be tackled by
this proposed collaboration.
Dyno and Sophia Kaduma, a recently appointed member of the
AVRDC Board of Directors,
attended the CGIAR Board
Orientation Program, which was held at the CGIAR Consortium
Office in Montpellier, France from
9-12 June 2013. New board members, directors, board
secretaries and others from
throughout the CGIAR system
attended, with one member representing both the International
Institute of Tropical Agriculture
(IITA) and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology
(icipe). Information on change in
the CGIAR system was provided
and lessons were learned on the responsibilities and possible pitfalls
confronting board members of
international agricultural centers.
It’s a small (agricultural) world after all
Mrs. Walton Dr. Walton Andrew Bennett Sophia Kaduma
A delegation from the state of Arkansas, USA visited the Center on 7 June 2013. (left to right) Huan-chong Wei from the North American division, Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mrs. Kim Darr; Mark Darr, Lieutenant Governor; Congresswoman Charlene Fite.
Visitors
at
HQ Campus
7 CORNUCOPIA
A group of pre-job educational trainees of “The 46th Newly Recruited Diplomats' Training Program” organized by the Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (IDIA), Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by Ambassador Mien-Sheng Hsu (red circle), the President of IDIA, visited the Center on 19 June 2013. They were briefed by Maureen Mecozzi, Head of Communications and Information, and were guided through the Demonstration Garden by Assistant Specialist Willie Chen.
A delegation of 15 visitors from Pertubahan Petani-Petani Mukim Sungkai, Batang Padang, Perak, Malaysia visited the Center on 20 June 2013. They were briefed by Shiu-luan Lu, AVRDC Visitors & Seminars Coordinator about the Center’s research activities and facilities. They also toured the Center’s Demonstration Garden and Genebank.
Yung-Kuang Huang (left), AVRDC Assistant Specialist, briefed 5 officials from the Department of Agriculture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 24 June 2013 about the management of the AVRDC Genebank. The visitors were participants in the “2013 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia–Taiwan Training Course on Genebank Management” organized by the International Center for Land Policy Studies and Training (ICLPST).
Members of the Asia and Pacific Seed Association representing seed
companies across Asia gathered at
AVRDC headquarters for an annual
workshop on 10-12 June 2013.
Participants examined a preliminary
yield trial for tomato, viewed the
International Sweet and Chili Pepper
nurseries, and listened to
presentations by AVRDC researchers.
APSA 2013
8 CORNUCOPIA
Welcome
2013 World Food Prize International interns
Shireen Bhatia began her two-
month posting at headquarters on 14 June 2013 to screen a set of hot
pepper accessions for reaction to
mechanical inoculation with two
different potyvirus isolates (Chilli veinal mottle virus and Pepper
mottle virus), and to identify the potyviruses present
in field samples of hot pepper from surveys of Taiwan and Vietnam under the supervision of Drs.
Lawrence Kenyon, Wen-shi Tsai and Jaw-fen Wang.
Megan Nicole McEnany arrived
in Thailand on 14 June 2013 for a two-month stay at the East and
Southeast Asia Regional Office.
Megan will work with Narinder
Dhillon, Vegetable Breeder - Cucurbits and his research assistant,
Supunsa ‘Pla’ Phethin to study field evaluation of
global bitter gourd germplasm for various horticultural traits.
SATNET Asia offering scholarships to training course
AVRDC - The World Vegetable
Center is now accepting
nominations for scholarships to be made available through SATNET
Asia to allow a maximum of 36
SATNET participants in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao
People’s Democratic Republic
(PDR), and Myanmar to attend
one module of the 32nd International Vegetable
Training Course (IVTC). The
training will be conducted from 16 September to 6 December 2013 at
AVRDC’s Research and Training
Station in Kamphaeng Saen,
Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, about 80 km west of Bangkok.
The IVTC is divided into three separate but interrelated one-
month long modules, which can be
taken individually or as a whole:
Module I: From Seed to Harvest
(16 September-11 October 2013)
Module II: From Harvest to
Table (14 October-8 November
2013)
Module III: Vegetables for
Sustainable Development (11 November-6 December 2013)
The scholarship covers an
international round trip air ticket from the nearest airport of origin to
Bangkok, tuition and course
materials, board and lodging, local transportation and local accident
and health insurance during the
stay in Thailand. A daily
subsistence allowance is excluded from the scholarship.
The training aims to enhance the technical, scientific and managerial
skills of the participants to be able
to contribute to the sustainable
development of their countries through increased production and
consumption of nutritious and
health-promoting vegetables. The training emphasizes advanced and
sustainable vegetable production
and postharvest technologies,
farmer education, human health
and nutrition, and marketing. This training will also enhance
awareness and understanding of
emerging global development issues and technologies.
The 32nd IVTC is organized in
collaboration with SATNET Asia, a project funded by European
Union, and the HortCRSP
Center of Innovation at Kasetsart University. It is endorsed
by the International Society for
Horticultural Science (ISHS),
particularly its Commission on Education, Research Training and
Consultancy.
The training brochure and related
website provide details about the
course. The application form should be sent to info-
AVRDC’s International Vegetable Training Course emphasizes hands-on training.
10 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
Seed kits keep 9 BOWON growing
On 19 June 2013, Robert Holmer, Regional Director,
East and Southeast Asia, turned over vegetable seed kits to 20 school principals of Kamphaeng Saen District,
Thailand, for their school garden program during a
meeting of the 9 BOWON project of Kasetsart
University in Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom. Each seed kit, produced with the financial support of
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, includes locally
adapted, nutrient-dense vegetables such as mungbean, vegetable soybean, yard-long bean, morning glory, kale,
pak choi, eggplant, tomato and chili pepper. The 9
BOWON project (which stands for 9 villages–9
schools–9 communities) was launched in 2011 as a community outreach project of Kasetsart University by
Sombat Chinawong, Vice President for the
Kamphaeng Saen Campus. AVRDC staff members are assisting in the school and community garden
component of the project by providing hands-on
training on how to establish vegetable gardens and
encourage pupils and community members to consume more vegetables. Prayong Kraunyam (left), Baan Nongkrang School, received the
vegetable seed kits from Robert Holmer (right), AVRDC East and Southeast Asia Regional Director.
Climate change: a threat to ASEAN food security
Climate change poses a major risk
for Southeast Asia that will complicate and compound existing
development problems such as
population growth, rapid urbanization, competition for
natural resources, environmental
degradation and, most importantly,
food and nutrition insecurity. The S. Rajaratnam School of
International Studies (RSIS) of
Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, organized an
Expert Group Meeting on the
Impact of Climate Change on
ASEAN Food Security from 6-7 June 2013 in Manila, Philippines to
explore which elements of climate
change may impact the food ecosystem, and in doing so affect
the food security of ASEAN. RSIS
conducts research in the fields of
internal and cross-border conflict, climate change, environmental
security and natural disasters,
energy, food and health security, and is the Secretariat for the
Consortium of Non-Traditional
Security Studies in Asia (NTS-Asia),
a network of 20 research institutes and think-tanks.
Robert Holmer, AVRDC
Regional Director, East and Southeast Asia, contributed a
position paper on “Ensuring Food
and Nutrition Security in Southeast Asia in the Face of a Changing
Climate,” which focused on
nutrition issues in the region.
Despite significant progress achieved over the past 30 years in
reducing the proportion of
malnourished children, child malnutrition persists in Southeast
Asia. While the region continues to
deal with the problems of infectious
diseases and undernutrition, it is at the same time experiencing an
upsurge in non-communicable
disease risk factors such as obesity and overweight, particularly in
urban areas. It is not uncommon to
find undernutrition and obesity
existing side-by-side within the same community and the same
household, a phenomenon known
as the "double burden of disease." Climate change is a major
challenge, as emphasized during
the recent Expert Consultation on
Vegetable Research and Development Priorities in
Southeast Asia organized by the
ASEAN-AVRDC Network on Vegetable Research and
Development (AARNET) on 21
March 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Addressing the issue will require innovative, climate-smart
agricultural technologies with the
potential to strengthen resilience, improve productivity and reduce
emissions of agricultural
production systems and value
chains. AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center and its partners
are ready to contribute to the
ASEAN Multi-Sectoral Framework on Climate Change: Agriculture and
Forestry towards Food Security
(AFCC) to strengthen and enhance
food and nutrition security in the region through sustainable,
efficient and effective use of land,
water and aquatic resources.
11 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
Amaranth and many other indigenous vegetables can tolerate environmental stress, and thus increase the resilience of agricultural production systems.
12 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
Researchers, farmers, and food and
beverage producers seeking fresh
approaches to sustainable
agricultural development met in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 15 May
2013 at a seminar to discuss
prospects for synergy along the research-production-consumption
continuum.
"Integration for the development of the food industry in Uzbekistan,"
organized by the Ministry of
Agriculture and Water Resources, AVRDC – The World Vegetable
Center, the International Center for
Agricultural Research in the Dry
Areas (ICARDA), the Association of Chefs of Uzbekistan, ZarExpo, and
others examined the state of
nutrition and food production in the country and how new raw
materials and technologies are
adopted by the food industry. There
is considerable untapped potential, and businesses were keen to find
out about new opportunities.
New varieties of vegetable
soybean, mungbean, and
Jerusalem artichoke were introduced during the event. Such
crops can help increase soil fertility
and tackle soil degradation and
salinization, which are major problems in large parts of Central
Asia.
Vegetable soybean is a cheap alternative source of protein. It is
not widely grown in Uzbekistan,
although products like soya milk and soy yoghurt are available in
limited quantities in the country.
Mungbean, on the other hand, is a
popular ingredient in Uzbek cuisine. The newly released
varieties of mungbean take only 70
to 95 days to ripen and have
upright stems, making mechanized harvesting possible.
Of the three crops, the least familiar is the Jerusalem artichoke
(Helianthus tuberosus), known
locally as “topinambour.” The roots of this multipurpose crop can be
used for food and other products,
and the green plants for fodder.
New varieties can be harvested after 180 days, and yield 35-60 t/ha
of green mass and 40-70 t/ha of
tubers. The crop grows well on salt-affected soils, helping to reduce
salinity and improve soil structure.
Local researchers have used
topinambour to produce inulin (a form of dietary fiber used by food
processors), flour, yeast, ethanol
and cellulose. A factory in
Uzbekistan has manufactured paper from topinambour. To
capitalize on the potential of the
crop, authorities and researchers have set up the Innovation Center
for Topinambour at Tashkent State
University of Economics.
The take-up rate of the new crops
by farmers remains low, however;
topinambour is cultivated on only
about 100 ha, and vegetable soybean on about 50 ha. To
increase production, farmers need
information on cultivation methods for new crops and also a better
understanding of the value chain
and how to reach potential buyers.
The seminar offered companies, farmers and research organizations
the opportunity to form those
important links and foster more business activity based on crops
that benefit consumers and the
environment.
Three crops for Central Asia
Mungbean Mungbean sprouts
Jerusalem artichoke Soybean
Helianthus tuberosus
(...continued on page 14)
Precooling a precursor to quality produce
13 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
Fresh produce starts to deteriorate
immediately following harvest, but farmers who have a sound
understanding of good postharvest
practices like precooling can employ
some simple methods to slow down the process and avoid loss of texture,
firmness, color, flavor and
nutritional value in their vegetables. Horticulture diploma students from
the Tengeru Horticultural
Research and Training Institute
(HORTI Tengeru) in Arusha, Arumeru District, Tanzania visited
the nearby Postharvest Training
and Services Center (PTSC) at AVRDC’s Regional Center for Africa
to participate in one-day training
courses on postharvest handling and
storage of vegetables on 22 and 24 May 2013. Ngoni Nenguwo,
AVRDC Postharvest Specialist,
(top) HORTI Tengeru students discuss construction of the Zero Energy Cool Chamber (ZECC) with Postharvest Specialist Ngoni Nenguwo (center). Easily built with bricks and sand, a ZECC keeps fresh vegetables cool. This technology is one of several simple and cheap methods farmers can use to protect the firmness, flavor and nutritional value of their crops. (bottom) Juices, sauces, and jams: Ngoni demonstrates options for postharvest processing of vegetables to generate income and provide a steady supply of vegetable products to the market.
(...continued from page 13)
14 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
guided the 32 first-year students and 34
second-year students through principles and practices small-scale producers can
follow to protect the quality of
horticultural crops from harvest to
market. His lecture covered issues related to produce maturity, harvesting and
handling methods; packaging options;
and storage and transportation considerations. Ngoni also engaged the
students in practical activities with solar
dehydration, processing jams and sauces,
and working with the ZECC (Zero Energy Cool Chamber), a low-cost evaporative
cooler. He noted the students were
interested in knowing how crop physiology affects the postharvest
handling of crops, and were especially
curious about the differences between
precooling methods such as using water or ice, and which method works best for
which crop.
Ngoni demonstrates the benefits and drawbacks of various packing containers. Up to 40% of the vegetable harvest can be lost due to bruising or spoilage during transport. Properly cooled fresh vegetables packed in sturdy containers are more likely to arrive at the market in good, salable condition.
Source: State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables, 2013. US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
USA: Eat more vegetables!
Consumption of vegetables
remains low in the USA. Only
about 70% of all census tracts
in the country have at least
one store that offers a variety
of affordable fresh produce.
Proximity is important: States
in which vegetable production
is high, such as Oregon and
California, tend to have higher
rates of vegetable
consumption. The World
Health Organization
recommends a daily intake of
400 g of fruit and vegetables.
Seed for the Sahel
15 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
During the International Congress on Hidden Hunger 2013
(March 6-9, Stuttgart, Germany) a call went out for better communication between scientists, policy makers, politicians, NGOs, and
local field workers to improve knowledge about hidden hunger and
promote better domestic and international cooperation in this important
area of study.
The new website http://www.nutri-matrix.org/ is a platform for the
exchange of study results, experiences, observations, reflections and ideas related to the subject of hidden hunger. It includes an overview of research
projects and funding offers, as well as collaboration and research requests
from all over the world.
Links to like: www.nutri‐matrix.org
Difficult times
demand that people join
together to
address the
problems affecting them all. 3A-Sahel, a new
association in northern Mali, has
been created to support community-based initiatives to fill
agricultural knowledge and seed
supply gaps that occurred in the
Douentza region, where extension services were disrupted by war.
Although primarily agricultural, the
area suffers from chronic food
insecurity. AVRDC Mali provided seed of roselle, okra, amaranth and
African eggplant to 200 women in
five villages (Danssa and Alamina, 35 each; N’Gono and Kiro, 40 each;
Pétaka, 50) in the region. Most of
the women’s garden plots are about
5 m2 in size, but several are working their land jointly to maximize labor
and scarce inputs. The market
supply of leafy vegetables is
gradually being restored, and the women’s families now have access
to fresh vegetables and healthier
diets.
Growing again in Mali’s Douentza region with the help of 3A-Sahel and seed from AVRDC.
40 years of service to tropical agriculture
Over the past four decades, hundreds of people have contributed their
talents and expertise to carry out AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center’s mission of increasing the production and consumption of nutritious,
health-promoting vegetables in developing countries. We share their
Contributors: Sheila de Lima, Warwick Easdown, Robert Holmer, Dyno Keatinge, Ravza Mavlyanova, Ngoni Nenguwo, Regional Program for Sustainable Agricultural Development in Central Asia and the Caucasus, Albert Rouamba, Lydia Wu
AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center P.O. Box 42 Shanhua, Tainan 74199 Taiwan
16 CORNUCOPIA
I remember Dr. Romeo T. Opeña! He was such an amazingly wonderful
personality to work with, an excellent scientist and plant breeder, and a tremendously talented teacher. Without his guidance I would not be where I am
now. He turned me and many others into good and successful plant breeders. I
made so many friends during my internship: Mr. Ed, Mr. Azran Tanjung, Mr.
Musa, Mr. Bogale, Mr. Winai, Mr. Somchai, Mrs. Manit, Mr. Lee and many others, you made my life at AVRDC the most memorable and enjoyable. And I
can’t forget Mr. Chen, the Research Assistant in Tomato Improvement. He was
very kind to me, and I owe him a great deal.
Mohd Shukor Nordin, PhD
Department of Biotechnology
Faculty of Science International Islamic University, Malaysia
