The Role of Agricultural Technology Development in Developing Regions

Dates：November 28 (Afternoon)  – 29, 2012
Venue: Tsukuba International Congress Center, Epochal, Convention Hall
 

Agriculture in developing regions is vulnerable to adverse environments, which pose various risks on the stability of food production. Development of agricultural technology to mitigate risks in these regions is essential due to frequent occurrence of extreme weather events associated with climate change. In African regions, specifically in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, people suffer from hunger and poverty due to drought, desertification, and crop damage from plant diseases and insect infestations. Internal factors such as political instability, lack of market options, and underdeveloped infrastructure aggravate the situation. This has become one of the highest priority global issues facing humanity. To effectively address this issue, a stable food production system for these regions has to be established.

There are diversified approaches for the establishment of a stable food production system to mitigate risks. These approaches include crop breeding, cultivation technology, water and soil management technology, monitoring technology and forecast system for pest and extreme weather events, and socio-economic measures such as index insurance. Traditional technologies which have been locally developed to cope with such risks are also important and will be reassessed.

This symposium aims to share research outcomes relating to the establishment of resilient food production systems across Asian-African continents, promote multidisciplinary communication, and encourage exchange of ideas among active experts, including researchers, engineers, and policy-makers, for the development of future agricultural technologies.

Program

Opening Session

• Opening Remarks: Masa Iwanaga (President of JIRCAS)
• Welcome Statements: Masamichi Saigo (Research Councilor, MAFF)

Keynote Speech

Chair: Osamu Koyama (JIRCAS)

• Building Resilient Food Systems: Policies and Technologies
  Shenggen Fan (International Food Policy Research Institute)
• Resilience of Social-Ecological Systems for Food Security
  Chieko Umetsu (Nagasaki University)
• Keynote Speech General Discussion

Session 1: Resilience in the Livestock Sector

Chair: Tomoyuki Kawashima (JIRCAS)

• Damage from Cold and Snow Disaster (Dzud) and Countermeasure
  Seishi Yamasaki (JIRCAS)
• Medium to Long-Term Action against Drought in the Horn of Africa
  Junichi Hanai (JICA)
• Index-Based Livestock Insurance: Protecting Pastoralists from Drought-related Livestock Losses
  Andrew Mude (ILRI)
• General Discussion

Session 2: Resilience in Upland Crop Production

Chair: Ryoichi Mastsunaga (JIRCAS)

• Conservation Agriculture in Africa: Challenges and Lessons Learned
  Lamourdia Thiombiano (FAO)
• Conservation Agriculture in China and Impacts on Yield of Maize
  Hongwen Li (China Agricultural University)
• Drought and Salt Damage in Uzbekistan
  Yulia Shirokova (Scientific Research Institute of Irrigation and Water Problems, Uzbekistan)
• General Discussion

Session 3: Resilience in Paddy Rice Production

Chair: Kunihiro Doi (JIRCAS)

• AILA Impact on the Livelihood of the Coastal People of Bangladesh
  Md Syedul Islam (Bangladesh Rice Research Institute)
• Introduction of SOMPO Japan Products – Weather Index Insurance for Agriculture (WIIA) in Thailand
  Emiko Maki (SOMPO Japan Insurance Inc.)
• Climate Change and Flood Risk in the Mekong Delta – Adaptation and Coexistence in Flood-Prone Rice Area
  Hideto Fujii (JIRCAS)
• General Discussion

Session 4: Risk Recognition and Monitoring Sytstem

Chair: Kazunobe Toriyama (JIRCAS)

• Preventative Control for Desert Locust Pest in Africa: Experiences of Mauritania
  Mohamed Abdellahi Ebbe (Known as Ould Babah) (National Center for Prevention and Control of Desert Locust, Mauritania)
• Migration Prediction and Insecticide Resistance Monitoring for Rice Planthoppers
  Masaya Matsumura (NARO Kyushu Okinawa Agricultural Research Center)
• An Early-Warning System Against Cool-Weather Damage in Rice Production
  Eiji Kanda (NARO Tohoku Agricultural Research Center)
• General Discussion

General Discussion

Chairs: Masuo Ando, Kazumi Yamaoka (JIRCAS)

Panelist:

• Shigeru Araki (Kyoto University)
• Yuki Morinaga (Meiji University)
• Takeshi Sakurai (Hitotsubashi University)
• Masa Iwanaga (JIRCAS)

Closing Remarks

• Masami Yasunaka (Vice President of JIRCAS)

Symposium Pictures