TARF Holds the 48th Public Lecture on September 19, 2019

The JIRCAS Tropical Agriculture Research Front (TARF) will hold the 48th Public Lecture on September 19, 2019 with the theme "Warm-season Grass Brachiaria: Utilization in the Tropics and Development of a New Variety ‘Isan'". In this public lecture, TARF will give an overview of its research on grasses and introduce its efforts to develop and popularize a new warm-season grass variety, ‘Isan’.

48th TARF Public Lecture       

       Date & Time：　September 19, 2019 (Thu)　19:00～20:30　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
　　Venue：　Ishigaki City Health and Welfare Center, 2nd Floor, Audio Visual Room
　　Topic：　Warm-season Grass Brachiaria: Utilization in the Tropics and Development of a New Variety ‘Isan'

JIRCAS・Tropical Agriculture Research Front (TARF)
1091-1 Maezato-Kawarabaru, Ishigaki, Okinawa 907-002
　　Director:　　OMAE Hide
　　　　　　email: pro-nekken@ml.affrc.go.jp

TARF conducts research that contributes to the sustainability of agriculture and the stable production of agricultural products in tropical and subtropical developing regions of the world. The public lectures aim to introduce some of its research activities to the general public in an easy-to-understand manner in the hope that the information will help the public understand the research activities and contribute to their daily lives.

This is the 48th TARF Public Lecture since the first one was held in May 2007. This time's lecture, "Warm-season Grass Brachiaria: Utilization in the Tropics and Development of a New Variety 'Isan'" focuses on warm-season grasses, which are an important forage resource in tropical and subtropical regions. In this presentation, we will review the types and characteristics of grasses used in tropical and subtropical regions, focusing on grass species used in Okinawa Prefecture, including grass research conducted by TARF. In addition, we will introduce the characteristics of the warm-season grass Brachiaria, which is attracting attention for its usefulness as a pasture grass in Japan. We will also introduce our efforts to promote the breeding and spread of the Brachiaria variety "Isan", which was jointly developed by the National Agriculture and Food research Organization (NARO), Okinawa Prefecture, the University of Miyazaki, the Thai Department of Livestock Promotion and JIRCAS.

• Title
  • Warm-season Grasses: Brachiaria: Utilization in the Tropics and Development of a New Variety ‘Isan'
• Contents
  • Grasses used in tropical and subtropical regions
  • JIRCAS research on grasses 
  • The potential of Brachiaria as a pasture grass
  • Isan: Development of Japan's first Brachiaria variety 
• Lecturers
  • SHIMODA Katuhisa (Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, NARO)
  • TSURUTA Shin-ichi (Senior Researcher, TARF)