Events

Short Course: Crop Genetic Diversity in the Field and on the Farm, Principles and Applications in Research Practices

Rome, Italy

From: 11.09.2017 to: 15.09.2017

The University of Rome Sapienza, in collaboration with the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research (PAR) and Bioversity International, will hold a one-week credited short course on “Crop Genetic Diversity in the Field and on the Farm: Principles and Applications in Research Practice”, based on a text book by the same title. The course will be taught by experts in the field, including Devra Jarvis, PAR Research Coordinator, and Toby Hodgkin, PAR Coordinator, and authors of the book “Crop Genetic Diversity in the Field and on the Farm: Principles and Applications in Research Practice”.

The course will be held in English (the text book will also be available in Arabic and Chinese) at the Department of Environmental Biology, University of Rome Sapienza, and will link research on crop genetic diversity growing in farmers’ fields with conservation of this diversity and its use for sustainable production and for supporting rural livelihoods. It covers principles and practices for gathering and using data that can come from traditional varieties and traditional farming systems through both participatory diagnostic and empirical approaches. These include methods for identifying ways of supporting farmers who grow these varieties. The course is a guide to motivating concepts (for example, that more diversity improves resilience) and research questions in the assessment, management and use on-farm of crop genetic diversity.

The course is intended for participants that ideally have:
• A Master Degree in a related field, preferably in agriculture, agronomy, plant breeding, plant pathology, population biology, botany, natural resource management, environmental science, rural development or socio-economic sciences;
• Good knowledge of English; and
• Working experience in a rural setting will be an advantage.

The maximum number of accepted participants will be 30.

To receive more information regarding the application deadline and any other questions, please contact [email protected]