Newswise — Feb. 22, 2016-The Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) is sending ten graduate students to Zambia to learn more about dry bean research and increase international knowledge of this important crop. CSSA worked in collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Feed the Future’s Knowledge-Driven Agricultural Development (KDAD) project to select and fund the students.
All three groups are celebrating 2016 as the International Year of Pulses (IYP), as declared by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Pulses are dry beans, peas, and lentils.
CSSA is sending the students to the PanAfrican Grain Legume Conference and World Cowpea Conference, held February 28 – March 4, in Livingston, Zambia ( www.gl2016conf.iita.org/).
“We are honored to grant these students the travel awards,” says Mark Brick, leader of CSSA’s IYP team. “Collaborating with USAID and KDAD was a natural fit. The world will benefit from having more trained scientists knowledgeable about pulses, and the latest in research efforts.”
Winners of the competitive CSSA-USAID travel grants are:
Md Nurul Amin, Washington State UniversityBrijesh Angira, Texas A&M UniversityLance Goettsch, Iowa State UniversityJamin Smitchger, Montana State UniversityOlaotan Abimbola Adediran, Federal University of TechnologyCourtney Holdt, North Dakota State UniversityMatthew Berry, Michigan State UniversityVongai Chekanai, University of ZimbabweDennis Ndahura Katuuramu, Michigan State UniversityAwio Bruno, Makerere University
Travel grant judges from were:Mark Brick, Colorado State UniversityRoch Gaussoin, University of Nebraska-LincolnMichael Grusak, USDA-ARSJuan Osorno, North Dakota State UniversityJennifer Long, USAID Bir B. Singh, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & TechnologyClarice Coyne, USDA-ARS
CSSA is one of the leading scientific societies working to increase knowledge about pulses within the science community and with the general public. CSSA’s information page about IYP efforts can be found at www.crops.org/iyp. The page contains tips for growing pulses in your garden as well as links to recipes and stories about the importance of bean crops.
CSSA will release more information about pulses during the 2016 IYP celebration.
The Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), founded in 1955, is an international scientific society comprised of 6,000+ members with its headquarters in Madison, WI. Members advance the discipline of crop science by acquiring and disseminating information about crop breeding and genetics; crop physiology; crop ecology, management, and quality; seed physiology, production, and technology; turfgrass science; forage and grazinglands; genomics, molecular genetics, and biotechnology; and biomedical and enhanced plants.
CSSA fosters the transfer of knowledge through an array of programs and services, including publications, meetings, career services, and science policy initiatives. For more information, visit www.crops.org.
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