OCTOBER 2017 SEEDWORLD.COM / 89 results on marginal land- holdings in rain-fed regions. Natural farming techniques that use less water, enrich the soil with nutrients, cost less than chemical farming and are based on preservation of the indigenous seed benefit marginal farmers, who domi- nate the agricultural sector in India. The finding was further corroborated by a 11-month research project by The Art of Living, Max Planck and Leeds University. “Given the huge agri-biodi- versity of India, if the marginal farmer can be promoted to the status of an innovator, then India can export seeds as a technology to the whole world,” observed Kochupillai. The conference also addressed the significant role played by governments. “The government will explore possibilities of supporting the promotion of indigenous seed innovation,” said Sanjay Khattal, director of the National Seeds Corporation. “The takeaway here would be that in view of the central- ized plant breeding efforts pertaining to hybrid and GMO varieties suited to irrigated lands reaching a plateau now, it is imperative that rain-fed agriculture that constitutes 44 percent of the arable land in India should be given priority,” said Prabhakar Rao, Trustee, Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Trust. Source: The Hindu. STATUS SWEDEN The Swedish government plans to open a national center for plant-breeding to develop new species of plants that are suitable for the Swedish climate. According to a statement published on the Swedish government’s website, access to suitable plant species is paramount for developing sustainable and competitive agriculture and gardening production across Sweden. That need grows as Sweden makes the transition to a bio- based and circular economy. “The government wants to ensure that farmers and plant growers can access species of plants that are suitable to Swedish conditions,” said Minister for Rural Affairs Sven-Erik Bucht. “This is crucial for our ability to culti- vate — now and in the future — and not least considering changes in the climate. This investment is also in line with our food policy’s overarching goal of increasing food pro- duction in Sweden.” The idea is also that by introducing more plant spe- cies specifically adapted to Swedish conditions, it would lead to decreased use of commercial fertilizer and plant-protection products. That in turn is beneficial for biodiversity, the government statement asserted. The proposed national center for plant breeding is suppose to be a hub for research and will serve as a collaboration partner for industry actors. It will be run by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. According to the govern- ment’s 2018 budget proposal, it will cost 70 million SEK (8.8 million U.S. dollars) to estab- lish the center in 2019 and 2020. After that, , it will be a permanent institution. Source: XinhuaNet. STATUS TANZANIA Scientists have now shed more light on how a farm- ers’ variety in Tanzania is able to tolerate the deadly viral Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) disease after infection. The team has established that Namikonga plants have a complex line of defense involving many biochemical pathways and genes that are able to limit the virus multi- plication in their bodies once infected. This limits disease progression, restricting infection symptoms to the leaves only while allowing the normal root growth without the necrosis. They have shared their find- ings in a paper, “A time series transcriptome analysis of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) varieties challenged with Ugandan cassava brown streak virus,” published in Scientific Reports. CBSD is a major threat to the production of cassava in East, Central and Southern Africa as it results in a dry brown rot in the roots, making them unsuitable for any use and can cause yield losses of nearly 100 percent. “Our findings show that Namikonga resists the virus by restricting its multiplica- tion in the plant,” says Teddy Amuge, a plant scientist who led the research in collabora- tion with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, the Ugandan National Crop Resources Research Institute, New York University, and the University of Pretoria, South Africa. “This gives us new hope in our efforts to control the disease and revive cassava production.” “We are very excited by these results, and are now working on approaches to allow plant breeders to quickly transfer this resistance into other, high yielding cassava varie- ties,” says Morag Ferguson, corresponding author and principle investigator of this research. This is the first large-scale study of how some cassava varieties are able to resist pests and disease, and this will help scientists to better control these pathogens. “A better understanding of this effect may help scien- tists plan more success- ful strategies for breeding CBSD resistant cassava in the future,” says Dave Berger, a vital collaborator from the University of Pretoria. Source: Africa Science News. SW