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Bioversity
Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization that delivers scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural biodiversity to attain global food and nutrition security, working with partners in low-income countries in different regions where agricultural biodiversity can contribute to improved nutrition, resilience, productivity and climate change adaptation. Bioversity International is a member of the CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. The organization is highly decentralized, with about 300 staff working around the world. Its headquarters are in Rome's Maccarese borough, Italy, with regional offices located in Central and South America, West and Central Africa, East and Southern Africa, Central and South Asia, and South-east Asia. In 2019, Bioversity International joined with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (as the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agricultural Biodiversity
Agricultural biodiversity or agrobiodiversity is a subset of general biodiversity pertaining to agriculture. It can be defined as "the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels that sustain the ecosystem structures, functions and processes in and around production systems, and that provide food and non-food agricultural products.” It is managed by farmers, pastoralists, fishers and forest dwellers, agrobiodiversity provides stability, adaptability and resilience and constitutes a key element of the livelihood strategies of rural communities throughout the world. Agrobiodiversity is central to sustainable food systems and sustainable diets. The use of agricultural biodiversity can contribute to food security, nutrition security, and livelihood security, and it is critical for climate adaptation and climate mitigation. Etymology It is not clear when exactly the term agrobiodiversity was coined nor by whom. The 1990 a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Center For Tropical Agriculture
The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (known as CIAT from its Spanish-language name ''Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical)'' is an international research and development organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger while protecting natural resources in developing countries. It is based in Palmira, Colombia, where it employs over 300 scientists. CIAT is one of the 15 specialized research centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and is also the headquarters for the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). In 2019, CIAT joined with Bioversity International (as the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT) to "deliver research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives". Grain legume research CIAT has a seed depository of 37,000 varieties of beans at a center in Colombia and, as of 2013, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind, which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow upward in clusters near the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless ( parthenocarp) bananas come from two wild species – ''Musa acuminata'' and ''Musa balbisiana''. The scientific names of most cultivated bananas are ''Musa acuminata'', ''Musa balbisiana'', and ''Musa'' × ''paradisiaca'' for the hybrid ''Musa acuminata'' × ''M. balbisiana'', depending on their genomic constitution. The old scientific name for this hybrid, ''Musa sapientum'', is no longer used. ''Musa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ProMusa
ProMusa was the name originally given to a global program on banana improvement set up bINIBAPin 1997. In 2007, it was restructured as a knowledge-sharing platform coordinated by Bioversity International. It was dissolved in 2021. History Promusa was created in 1997 by the World Bank and INIBAP as a global program to co-ordinate and improve research on banana improvement. Its aim was to increase interactions between pathologists and the world’s few banana breeders in order to maximize the outputs of breeding and accelerate the impact of banana improvement efforts. At the start, the program had five interlinked thematic working groups (Genetic Improvement, Fusarium wilt, Sigatoka diseases, Nematodes and Viruses), coordinated by a secretariat which was provided by INIBAP.Sharrock, S., Orjeda, G. and Frison, E.A. 1998ProMusa - a global programme for Musa improvement p.337-344. In: Galán Saúco, V. (ed.). Proceedings of First International Symposium on Banana in the Subtropics, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CGIAR
CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security. CGIAR research aims to reduce rural poverty, increase food security, improve human health and nutrition, and sustainable management of natural resources. It is carried out at 15 centers (CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers) that collaborate with partners from national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations, and the private sector. These research centers are around the globe, with most in the Global South and Vavilov Centers of agricultural crop genetic diversity. CGIAR is an ad-hoc organization funded by its members. Members include the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and Japan, the Ford Foundation, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maccarese
Maccarese is a locality in Lazio, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Rome. Its administration is divided between the Municipalities of Rome ( Maccarese Nord) and Fiumicino, of which it is a ''frazione''. It was entirely part of the Municipality of Rome until 1993, when the former ''Circoscrizione'' XIV, which included a part of the hamlet, became the autonomous Municipality of Fiumicino. Crossed by the Arrone river, which flows into the Tyrrhenian Sea, the locality - which extends from the Fiumicino Airport to the sea and borders Fregene to the north-west - is best known for the homonymous farm Maccarese S.p.A., established in 1925 following the reclamation works of the Ager Romanus. History The first evidence of a permanent settlement dates back to the Copper Age (3400-2200 BC). In this period a village of huts was established in the area that is currently called Cerquete-Fianello, located in the southern part of the locality (Manfredini ''et alii'', 2002). Before the reclamat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cooking Banana
Cooking bananas are banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking. They may be eaten ripe or unripe and are generally starchy. Many cooking bananas are referred to as plantains (/ˈplæntɪn/, /plænˈteɪn/, /ˈplɑːntɪn/) or green bananas. In botanical usage, the term "plantain" is used only for true plantains, while other starchy cultivars used for cooking are called "cooking bananas". True plantains are cultivars belonging to the AAB group, while cooking bananas are any cultivars belonging to AAB, AAA, ABB, or BBB groups. The currently accepted scientific name for all such cultivars in these groups is ''Musa'' × ''paradisiaca''. Fe'i bananas (''Musa'' × ''troglodytarum'') from the Pacific Islands are often eaten roasted or boiled, and are thus informally referred to as "mountain plantains," but they do not belong to any of the species from which all modern banana cultivars are descended. Cooking bananas are a major food staple in We ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KU Leuven
KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, law, canon law, business, and social sciences. In addition to its main campus in Leuven, it has satellite campuses in Kortrijk, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Ostend, Geel, Diepenbeek, Aalst, Sint-Katelijne-Waver, and in Belgium's capital Brussels. KU Leuven is the largest university in Belgium and the Low Countries. In 2017–18, more than 58,000 students were enrolled. Its primary language of instruction is Dutch, although several programs are taught in English, particularly graduate and postgraduate degrees. KU Leuven consistently ranks among the top 100 universities in the world by major ranking tables. As of 2021, it ranks 42nd in the ''Times Higher Education'' rankings, 70th according QS World University Rankings, 87th according to the Sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Food And Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an international organization that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, ', translates to "let there be bread". It was founded on 16 October 1945. The FAO is composed of 195 members (including 194 countries and the European Union). Their headquarters is in Rome, Italy, and the FAO maintains regional and field offices around the world, operating in over 130 countries. It helps governments and development agencies coordinate their activities to improve and develop agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and land and water resources. It also conducts research, provides technical assistance to projects, operates educational and training programs, and collects data on agricultural output, produ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') level. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth; it is usually greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator. Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10% of earth's surface and contain about 90% of the world's species. Marine biodiversity is usually higher along coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature is highest, and in the mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, but will be likely to slow in the future as a primary result of deforestation. It encompasses the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Food Security
Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World Food Security, food security is defined as meaning that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life. The availability of food irrespective of class, gender or region is another element of food security. There is evidence of food security being a concern many thousands of years ago, with central authorities in ancient China and ancient Egypt being known to release food from storage in times of famine. At the 1974 World Food Conference, the term "food security" was defined with an emphasis on supply; food security is defined as the "availability at all times of adequate, nourishing, diverse, bal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant Genetics
Plant genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity specifically in plants.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is generally considered a field of biology and botany, but intersects frequently with many other life sciences and is strongly linked with the study of information systems. Plant genetics is similar in many ways to animal genetics but differs in a few key areas. The discoverer of genetics was Gregor Mendel, a late 19th-century scientist and Augustinian friar. Mendel studied "trait inheritance", patterns in the way traits are handed down from parents to offspring. He observed that organisms (most famously pea plants) inherit traits by way of discrete "units of inheritance". This term, still used today, is a somewhat ambiguous definition of what is referred to as a gene. Much of Mendel's work with plants still forms the basis for modern plant genetics. Plants, like all known organisms, use DNA to pass on their traits. Animal genetics often focuses on parentage and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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